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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554135">The Hitter's Girl (A Leverage Fanfiction)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsMovie/pseuds/MrsMovie'>MrsMovie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kaira and the Leverage Team [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Leverage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action &amp; Romance, Adventure, Crimes &amp; Criminals, F/M, Thief</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:41:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>318,226</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsMovie/pseuds/MrsMovie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaira Newton is a young woman of many talents. She grifts, steals, and fights. That's how she got the attention of Eliot Spencer, an ex-army man turned hitter and thief. They work together on jobs. Then they met Nathan Ford, an ex-insurance investigator, and now they work with a bunch of thieves and steal from the rich and powerful and give to the little guys who don't have a voice. They provide... Leverage. </p><p>(Also available on my Wattpad: MrsMarvel63)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alec Hardison &amp; Parker, Eliot Spencer/OC, Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kaira and the Leverage Team [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Leverage</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Introduction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! I hope you enjoy this series! You can follow my Twitter @mrsmoviefan_67 and my Wattpad to get up to date information on this series and to ask me any questions you may have on this series or for me!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I'm so excited to share with you this story! I absolutely LOVE <em>Leverage </em>and I've been wanting to write this story for a while now, but I could never think of a good character. Well, now I have! Here are some introductions for all of the characters that will be featured!</p><p>The Hitter<br/>
Eliot Spencer</p><p>        </p><p>Ex-army retrieval specialist. Eliot is a southern gentleman who will happily kick your ass if you deserve it.</p><p>The Hacker <br/>
Alec Hardison</p><p>        </p><p><br/>
Hacker extraordinaire. Hardison is the best when it comes to computers and how they work.</p><p>The Grifter <br/>
Sophie Deveroux</p><p>
  
</p><p>A master of the grift. Sophie is one of the best grifters around when she's stealing something. Smart, beautiful, and creative.</p><p>The Thief <br/>
Parker</p><p>
  
</p><p>Parker is one of the best thieves around. She always gets what she seeks.</p><p>The Brains <br/>
Nathan Ford</p><p>
  
</p><p>Ex insurance investigator with a knack for stealing. Nate is smart and cunning, which makes him perfect for leading this crew of thieves. Also, an alcoholic hell-bent on getting revenge on his own company, who played a part in his son's death. </p><p>The Hitter's Girl <br/>
Kaira Newton<br/>
(I don't have an image for her, just a description. Imagine a girl, 5ft 8. Long brown hair, has some curves, but not too much. She has blue eyes and pink lips. She usually doesn't wear makeup and usually in a t-shirt and jeans, unless something else is required for the job.)</p><p>A jack of all trades, Kaira can grift, steal, and fight. She was in the army with Eliot, which is how they met. She's a badass with a mouth on her. She's smart and skilled in multiple forms of combat. She's also skilled in interrogation and manipulation.</p><p>The backstory for Eliot and Kaira's relationship<br/>
Eliot and Kaira were paired up with each other in the army. While Kaira and Eliot have flirted, Kaira never wanted to make a move due to fear of damaging the relationship they had. Eliot never made a move for the same reasons. The story will follow their relationship as they learn that they are better together and it's okay to be vulnerable. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Nigerian Job (1x1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kaira Newton and Eliot Spencer get an offer they can't refuse. Victor Dubenich wants the thieves to steal his designs back from his rival, Pierson. On the job, they meet with Nathan Ford, Alec Hardison, Parker, and eventually Sophie Deveraux. When the job goes awry, it's up to the crew to get payback.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira Newton and Eliot Spencer were simply talking at a bar when a stout older man with wiry brown hair showed up next to them. "Excuse me, Miss Newton, Mr. Spencer? Yeah I know about you guys." He said. "Then you know why it's a good idea to walk away from us now." Eliot growled his southern accent showing. Eliot moved into a protective stance with Kaira. "Hey, relax. I have a job for you." The man said. "Oh really? What's the job?" Kaira asked, her northern accent showing. "I want you to steal something back for me." The man said. "And what would that be?" Eliot asked, sipping on his beer. "My airplane designs. Somebody stole them." The man said. "And you want us to find them?" Kaira said. "No I know who took them. I want you to steal them back." The man said. "Okay. Who has your designs?" Kaira asked. "Pierson." The man said. "Are there any other players we need to worry about?" Eliot asked. "I know you two work alone, but the team I put together will help you get my designs back." The man said. "No way. Like you said, we are a duo only." Kaira said, not happy. "How about for $300,000 each?" The man offered. Kaira and Eliot looked at each other. They nodded in agreement. "Who are the other players?" Eliot asked. The man brought out files of the team he had so far out of his briefcase. "These are the people who I've hired so far." The man said. Eliot and Kaira looked at the files. "How in the hell did you get these people? They all have the same rep as us. Soloists." Kaira pointed out, amused. "I offered them the same amount of money I offered you." The man explained. "So do we have a deal?" The man asked. "Yeah. Just one more thing. Who the hell gets desperate enough to have thieves steal something of theirs?" Kaira asked. "If you're asking for my name, it's Victor Dubenich." Victor explained.</p><p>Later that day, Eliot and Kaira arrived at Pierson's building on the roof. There they met with Nathan Ford, the ex-insurance investigator who at one point chased them all. Kaira wasn't gonna lie, that part was awkward for her. Then on the roof, they met Alec Hardison, a young black man with a buzz cut who was the hacker. "Okay. Clear comms." Nate said, his light Irish/Boston accent present. "No. No, no, no, no. No, hell no. This equipment is total VH1, bruh. It's best of the 80's. I got something nicer." Hardison said, kinda amused playing with the stuff Nate had brought. "Alright, no surprises now." Nate said. "I've been doing this since high school, bruh. I'm captain discipline." Hardison argued. Hardison pulled out a box that had their comms in it. "It's a bone-conduction earpiece mic." Hardison turned around to hand one to Eliot and Kaira. "It works off the vibrations in your jaw." Hardison explained as Eliot and Kaira put their earpieces in. "You can hear everything." Hardison said, making Kaira jump a bit. She wasn't gonna lie the earpiece was something she'd have to get used to. "You're not as useless as you look." Eliot said, playing with the earpiece. "That's actually impressive." Kaira said. Eliot gave her a look. "What? It is." Kaira argued. "I don't even know what it is you two do." Hardison said. "Hopefully you won't." Kaira said, flashing back to the Belgrade, Serbia job from three years ago. Then an upbeat young blond white woman swung from the ledge above them upside down. "Can I have one?" She asked. It was Parker. "You can have the whole box." Hardison flirted, handing the box to her. Then Parker swung back up. "What are you gonna do when she finds out you live with your mom?" Eliot said, unamused, putting on his black beanie. Hardison chuckled. "Age of the geek baby. We run the world." Hardison said. "Mm-hmm. You keep telling yourself that." Eliot said. Kaira just chuckled at her partner. Parker set up her climbing rig as Kaira, Eliot, and Hardison got ready. "Last time I used this rig? Paris, 2003." Parker said. Eliot was still playing with the earpiece. "Is this thing safe?" Eliot asked. "Is she talking about the Caravaggio? You stole that?" Nate questioned. "Yeah, it's completely safe. It's just, you know if you experience nausea, weakness in your right side, stroke, strokiness..." Hardison explained. "You're precisely why I only work with her." Eliot gestured to Kaira. "I'm sure they're fine, cowboy." Kaira said. "Wait a sec, "cowboy"? Are you two...?" Hardison questioned. "No!" Eliot and Kaira said at the same time. "We just work together is all." Kaira said. "Sure." Hardison said, not buying it. "Guys, listen up. We're gonna go on my count, not a second sooner. Parker, no freelancing." Nate ordered.</p><p>"Hey, relax. We know what we're doing." Eliot said. "And on the count of five, four..." Nate started the countdown. "Oh, he doesn't want to be our pal." Hardison interrupted. "We're on the count -- five, four, three..." Nate started again when Parker started running off the building. "She's gone." Eliot said. "Son of a..." Nate exclaimed. The three on the roof looked down as Parker was basically running down the building. "That's 20 pounds of crazy in a 5 - pound bag." Eliot said before walking away. "Exactly." Kaira said, following. Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison headed to a latch on the roof to get down into the building. "Vibration detectors are on." Parker reported. "No cutting, Parker, use the binary." Nate ordered. Hardison and Kaira lifted the latch as Eliot sent the bag down the ladder. They climbed down the ladder to the elevator shaft. The metal floor clanged with the pressure on it. "You know, Parker, anytime you want to--" Eliot was saying until the elevator went down. It startled Kaira a bit. "Everyone is on their way." Parker reported. "What are you getting with security? You see security?" Nate asked. "They don't see a thing." Parker reported. Finally the elevator stopped with a thud. "Doors open." Parker reported. "Alright, guys, it's showtime. Here we go." Nate said. Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison got out of the elevator and started jogging towards the server room. "Here." Eliot said, handing Hardison his thing to get the combination of the server room lock. "Got it." Hardison said. A few feet ahead was the door. Hardison plugged in his gizmo in the electronic lock and Kaira kept watch with Eliot. "Okay, you got any chatter on their frequencies?" Nate asked Parker. "No. Why?" Parker asked. "Nate do we have a problem?" Kaira asked. "There's eight listed on the duty roster. And there's only four at the guardpost." Nate reported. "I can't even tell how many guys are in the room. How can you tell who's who?" Parker questioned. "Haircuts, Parker. You count the haircuts." Kaira cut in. "Exactly." Nate confirmed. "I would have missed that." Parker said quietly. "What?" Nate questioned. "Nothing." Parker said. "Problem?" Eliot asked. "Uh...maybe. Run the cameras." Nate said. Hardison was still trying to hack the electronic lock. "Ten digit password? I salute you, sir." Hardison said, impressed. "Got them. They're doing their walk-through an hour early. Why the--" Parker reported. "Shit." Kaira exclaimed. "Because it's the playoffs. Yeah. Game five of the play-offs. They're doing their rounds an hour early so they can watch the play-offs. All right, where are they?" Nate asked. "They're at the stairwell." Parker reported. "Okay." Nate acknowledged. "What's the play here, Nate?" Kaira asked. It was quiet for a moment. "Okay, guys, here's what we got to do. We got to squelch them. Eliot, Kaira, what I want you to do is clear the zone and use Hardison as bait." Nate said. Both Kaira and Eliot took off their black jackets and left to get ready. "Bait? Hold up, hold up. Wait a minute. They ain't talking about me. I ain't nobody's bait." Hardison argued. Eliot and Kaira hid behind a wall, waiting for security to come. "Come on, baby. Come on. Work for me, baby. Come on." Hardison said, freaking out a little about the speed of the gizmo.</p><p>A moment passed. "Hardison, they're almost there." Parker informed the hacker. "Come on, baby. Come on. Just come on, man." Hardison said, getting anxious again. Hardison stayed a couple of seconds. "Forget it." Hardison said. He grabbed the bag and left, leaving the gizmo in the lock. Just as he was walking towards where Eliot and Kaira went, four security guards rounded the corner. "Hold it right there." The guard ordered, cocking his gun. Hardison put his arms up, staying put. Then Eliot and Kaira appeared behind the guards. Hardison let go of the bag. Kaira and Eliot went to work, disarming and knocking out the guards. The last guard was taken care of just as the bag hit the floor. Eliot and Kaira looked at Hardison as Eliot ejected the magazine from the security guy's gun and tossed the gun behind him. "That's what we do." Eliot and Kaira said at the same time. Hardison looked impressed. Then Hardison's gizmo beeped and chimed. Then the door to the server room opened. They walked over. Hardison chuckled at his work. They walked in as Hardison got to work at the computer. "Guys, guys, you got to talk to me, okay? 'Cause I don't know what's going on." Nate said, impatient. "It's all good. I'm stripping the drives now." Hardison reported as Eliot grabbed the bag. "Come on, baby." Hardison chuckled. "Hmm. Got all the designs, got all the backup. We're leaving this cupboard bare." Hardison reported. "Drop the spike." Nate ordered. "What did you do exactly?" Kaira asked. "Did you give them a virus?" Eliot asked. The servers went dark as they started walking out. "Dude, I gave them more than one virus." Hardison said. "Problem -- those guards you ganked, they reset all the alarms on the roof and all the floors above us. We can't go up." Parker reported. "What now?" Kaira asked, the three stopping in their tracks. "Every man for himself, dude." Eliot said, starting to walk. "Go ahead. I'm the one with the merchandise." Hardison said, causing Eliot to turn around and stop. "Yeah, well, I'm the one with an exit." Parker said. "I just want to get paid." Kaira said. "And I'm the one with a plan. Now, I know you children don't play well with others, but I need you to hold it together for exactly seven more minutes. Now get to the elevator and head down. We're going to the burn scam." Nate said. Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison started walking towards the elevator.</p><p>The trio got in first and started changing. Kaira put on a blue button shirt and took off her black pants to put on white ones. "Going to plan B?" Hardison questioned. "Technically, that would be plan G." Nate said. Then the elevators opened up again so Parker could get in. Hardison and Eliot were in suits. As soon as Parker got in, she took off her black shirt. Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira looked away, as she wasn't wearing a bra. Kaira felt awkward. "How many plans do we have? Is there like a plan M?" Hardison asked. "Yeah. Hardison dies in plan M." Nate said. "I like plan M." Eliot said. "Hey cowboy, be nice for a little longer." Kaira said, giving Eliot the stink eye. Hardison turned towards Eliot, hurt. After they changed, Eliot put a brace on Parker's leg as Hardison applied special effects makeup to Parker to looks like burns, telling her to stay still. Then Kaira gave Parker the crutch and the door opened. They walked out, acting like a group of friends. There was a guard in the hallway. "Nice. Why don't you stare a little more?" Eliot said, defensively. "Sorry." The guard apologized, feeling embarrassed. "You got to be kidding me!" Eliot exclaimed as they kept walking. "No, Tom, it's okay." Parker said, pretending to try to calm Eliot down. "No, it's not okay. Hey asshole, quite staring at my sister." Kaira got defensive. "Sorry, sorry." The guard apologized again. "I understand." Parker said, pretending to get emotional. "Look at what you did. Feel good about yourself?" Kaira retorted, opening the door. The guard tried to help, but Kaira argued and opened the door herself as they pretended to argue a bit. Then once the guard left, they saw Nate in the car and speed-walked over. Parker got shotgun, and Hardison back driver's side, Kaira in the middle, and Eliot back passenger side. Nate sped off. They arrived at a roof nearby and Hardison got to work. It was taking too long. "Oh, come on. It's only taking you all night. Come on." Nate said, impatient. "I-I got a couple wi-fi networks but some crappy bandwidth." Hardison said. Then the computer beeped. "There you go. The designs are sent." Hardison announced. "Alright, alright. The money will be in your accounts later today." Nate said, signaling the end of the job. "Anybody else notice how hard we rocked last night?" Hardison questioned, excited a bit. "Yeah well, one show only. No encores." Eliot said. "Yeah. I only work with him. Though it was fun last night." Kaira said, walking away with Eliot, arms connected. "I had already forgotten your names." Parker said. "It was kinda cool being on the same side." Hardison said. "No, we are not on the same side. I am not a thief." Nate said, clear on his view. "You are now." Parker said. "Come on, Nathan. Admit it. It was fun being the black king instead of the white knight." Kaira said. Nate didn't answer. The group walked away. Eliot and Kaira went back to their place. They got changed and sat on their own beds. Then Kaira walked over to Eliot. She sat beside him. "I kinda miss those guys." Kaira told Eliot. "We are a duo only, Kaira. You know that." Eliot argued. "Yeah, but it can't be just the two of us together until we retire. We need people to watch our backs. If you died Eliot because I couldn't get to you in time, I don't know what I'd do." Kaira argued back. "You'll never lose me, okay?" Eliot said. "That's not the point Eliot. I care about you. I know you trust me, but I'd feel better if more people looked out for you." Kaira argued. "Do we have to do this now?" Eliot questioned, laying down. "I'm sorry. I should head to bed." Kaira got up. Eliot grabbed her hand to stop her. "Princess, I know you're worried about losing me. But that's why I have you. That's how it's gonna be, okay. I care about you too." Eliot said. Kaira smiled and went to her bed. She fell asleep.</p><p>It was early in the morning when Eliot woke Kaira up. "Princess, we have to leave." Eliot said. "Why?" Kaira asked, getting up. Eliot sat on her bed. "I just got a call from Victor Dubenich." Eliot said. "What? Why?" Kaira asked, concerned. "Apparently the designs weren't sent to him." Eliot explained. "That's not possible, I saw Hardison send them." Kaira said. "I did too. He's freezing the payments until we sort this out." Eliot said. "Dammit. Where are we meeting?" Kaira asked. "An aircraft hanger in an hour, so get ready." Eliot said. Kaira quickly got ready and Elliot drove them to the hanger. They arrived and parked. They walked in. "Hello?" Kaira called out. They were met with Hardison who pointed a gun at them. "Hardison?" Kaira questioned. "What the hell? Hardison, put the damn gun down." Eliot said, not happy but calm. "You want to tell me what happened to the designs?" Hardison questioned. "What makes you think we know what happened?" Eliot asked. "Forget you, man you did it. When we were coming down from the elevator." Hardison argued. "Hardison, seriously? Now why would we?" Kaira asked. That's when Nate came in. "You had the file every second." Eliot said. "Hold up, Cujo. I did my part. I transferred the files. What did you two do?" Hardison said. "We saved your sorry ass from the security!" Kaira exclaimed. "Hey!" Nate yelled. They turned. Hardison pointed the gun at Nate. "Nate?" Kaira questioned, curiously. "Did you do it?" Eliot asked. "You're the only one that's ever played both sides." Kaira observed. Hardison had the gun pointed at Eliot. "Yeah, and you two seem relaxed for having a gun pointed at them." Nate said. Eliot and Kaira looked at Hardison. "Safety's on." They both said. "Like I'm gonna fall for that." Hardison argued. "Uh, no, no. Actually they're right. The safety is on." Nate said. "Give me that." Nate said as he grabbed the gun from Hardison. "Are you two armed?" Nate asked. "No. Never been a fan of guns." Kaira said. Then another gun could be heard and Nate turned around and pointed the gun at the noise. It was Parker. She walked towards them. "My money's not in my account. That makes me cry inside in my special angry place." Parker said, coming around back. She had the gun pointed up. "Okay. Parker." Nate said, slowly grabbing the gun from Parker. "Now would you come here to get paid?" Nate asked. "Hell no. Transfer of funds man. Global economy." Hardison said. "Suppose to be a walkaway. We're never supposed to see you guys again." Eliot said. "And the only reason you guys are here is because you didn't get paid..." Nate started laughing. "... And you're pissed off, right?" Nate questioned. "I mean, I wanted to know what happened, but yeah I want to get paid." Kaira said. Nate kept laughing. "I mean, matter of fact, the only way to get us all in the same place at the same time I-is to tell us we're not... getting... paid." Nate pointed out. It was silent for a second before Kaira had a realization. "Shit. Run!" She yelled as the gang started running. As they reached the door, Hardison tripped and Eliot and Kaira got him up and they ran again. They crawled underneath the door, Nate staying to close the door behind them. Just a few feet ahead of the door, the explosion happened. The explosion pushed them down and Kaira was knocked out.</p><p>She woke up in a bed next to Nate, who was still out. She saw Eliot was handcuffed to a chair and she tried to get up, but she was handcuffed to the bed. "Oh, finally you're awake!" Eliot said, relieved. "Are you okay, cowboy?" Kaira asked. "Yeah. We have problems though." Eliot said. "What problems?" Kaira asked. "They processed us." Eliot informed her, holding his hand up so she could see his fingers. Kaira looked at her own hand, and the ink was still on her fingertips. "Shit." Kaira exclaimed, laying down. Then Nate woke up, gasping. He looked at the handcuffed hand and groaned. "You don't like hospitals." Eliot pointed out. "Not much." Nate says, looking around. "It's about time." Parker said. She was in the next room, which shared a vent. "What the..." Nate said, quietly. "Cops and firemen got there just as we were waking up." Parker filled in the blanks. "Where are we?" Nate asked. "We're at county hospital. Local cops, they responded to the explosion." Hardison explained. "Have we been processed?" Nate asked. Eliot showed him his hand, and Kaira showed him hers. "They faxed our prints to the state police." Eliot informed Nate. "Yo, if the staties run us, man, we're screwed." Hardison said. "How long?" Parker asked. "30, 35 minutes depending on the software." Hardison said. "They printed us 20 minutes ago." Eliot said. "Which leaves us ten minutes to get out of here before we go to jail." Kaira said. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, alright." Nate said, thinking. "Kaira and I can take these cops." Eliot said. "Don't you dare. You kill anyone, you screw up my getaway." Parker said, not happy. "Hold up. I'm still handcuffed here. I can't even go to the bathroom. I got to go." Hardison said. "Parker, get me a phone." Nate ordered. "What we're gonna do is we're gonna get out of here together." Nate said. "This was a one time deal." Eliot reiterated. "So you've said." Kaira retorted. "Look guys, here's your problem. You all know what you can do. I know what all you can do. So that gives me the edge. It gives me the plan." Nate said. "I don't trust these guys." Parker said. It was silent for a moment. "Do you trust me?" Nate asked. "Of course. You're an honest man." Eliot said. Kaira nodded her head in agreement. "Parker. Phone." Nate repeated. "This is gonna suck." Parker said before Kaira heard retching and Hardison freaking out. The doctor came and told Parker that she could have a concussion and to tell the police if she had any more symptoms. Then Parker put the flip phone through the vent and Nathan grabbed it. "So, the trick is to give them what they want. They're expecting a phone call, right?" Nate explained the idea of the con. He tossed the phone to Eliot. Eliot dialed and a cop answered. "Yeah this is Detective Lieutenant Carden with the Illinois State Police. We got those prints you sent us. Uh, the problem I have is, they're sending up all kind of red flags. And I've got somebody on the phone for you from the FBI down there in Washington. Can you hold, son?" Eliot said in a Midwest accent. Eliot tossed the phone to Nate. "Yeah, Deputy Burns, this is Deputy Director McCumber, uh, FBI. Yes is our man all right?" Nate asked into the phone. Kaira tried not to laugh at the names used. "Deputy, listen to me, the man you have inside there is ours, actually. He's been in deep cover for three years." Nate said. "That's correct. You should be receiving a fax any moment now confirming what I'm telling you." Nate continued. "Most of what I told you is classified. I need to know I can trust you, can I?" Nate continued stringing the Deputy along. Nate hung up the phone and soon they were being escorted by Hardison to a police car. Kaira was in the middle and Parker on the outside as Nate was shotgun. Hardison hit Eliot's head against the door frame. He growled. "Walk it off. Walk -- get inside. Get inside." Hardison said as Eliot went in the cruiser. "Men... fills my heart with tears of joy, what you guys do." Hardison said, saluting the officers outside. Then he drove off.</p><p>It was almost dusk before they arrived at some apartment building. The place was huge! "Five first-class seats to anywhere but here, coming up." Hardison said walking to his computer system. Parker whistled. "Whose place is this?" She asked. "It's mine." Hardison said. "Nice." Kaira complimented. They gathered in the living room. "I'm gonna beat Dubenich so bad even the people that look like him are gonna bleed." Eliot said, holding up his fist. "You won't get within 100 yards. He knows your face. He knows all our faces." Parker pointed out. "He tried to kill us." Eliot reiterated. "More importantly, he didn't pay us." Parker said, leaning up against a beam. "How is that more important?" Eliot asked. "I take that personally." Parker explained. "There's something wrong with you." Eliot said, looking at Parker weirdly. Eliot and Kaira sat on the arms of a couch. Nate was leaning against another beam, thinking. Hardison was at his computer. "Hey, hey, hey, heads up. Heads up. Look." Hardison said, getting their attention. They looked towards him. "Dubenich's story is 90 percent true. He is the head of Bering Aerospace, big rival of Pierson. But check out what my little web crawlers coughed up." Hardison said. He pulled up a new story. "We've lost research that we've been working on for over five years. Our servers have been sabotaged. Now we're gonna pursue these perpetrators to the full extent of the law and with all the resources we have at our disposal." Pierson said in the article. "Could be a cover story." Nate said. "Here's the log of last nights rip. Internal time stamps on the project. 2003, 2004 -- they're way, way down in the code. There's no reason to fake those, man." Hardison explained. "So we didn't steal the plans back?" Eliot questioned. "No. We just stole them. That bastard." Kaira said, upset. "Why would Dubenich lie to us?" Hardison asked. "Because you're thieves. If he hired you for a straight up crime, you'd know he was a bad guy like you. You'd be suspicious. This way, you just saw another citizen in over his head. And that's why you didn't see the double-cross coming." Nate explained. "And why didn't you see it coming?" Parker asked. "Because I'm not a thief." Nate said. "You know what? Maybe that was the problem." Eliot said, getting angry. Kaira had to hold him back. "Hey, hey. I have five tickets to London, Rome, Paris, and Sao Paulo, all matching the I.D.'s that you gave me." Hardison said, giving them the tickets. Nate was looking at the monitor. "You're running." Nate said. "Yes, sir. You got a better idea?" Eliot questioned. "No, no. You're running. Now that was a high-risk play. You got your balls tied to the stock price like a cinder block. Shareholder meeting coming up. We can't let this guy have any time to cool down." Nate said. "You want to run a game on him?" Kaira questioned. "You?" Eliot questioned. "Yeah, I mean, how do you think I got most of my stolen merchandise back? I mean, this guy, he's greedy, thinks he's smart. He's the best kind of mark." Nate said. "He does think he got rid of us." Parker pointed out. "Element of surprise." Hardison said. "What's in it for us?" Eliot asked, gesturing towards Kaira who was next to him. "Payback. And if it goes right, a lot of money." Nate said. "Sounds good to me." Kaira smiled. "What's in it for me?" Parker asked. "A lot of money. And if it goes right, payback. Hardison?" Nate said. "I was just gonna send a thousand porno magazines to his office, but hell yeah, man. let's kick him up." Hardison said. "What's in it for you?" Kaira asked. "He used my son." Nate said, looking through everyone. Nate thought a second. "Alright. Let's go get Sophie." Nate said, walking away. Everyone followed except for Eliot and Kaira. "What the hell's a Sophie?" He asked. "I don't know." Kaira said, walking away.</p><p>They arrived at a theater and watched Sophie perform. She tried, but she wasn't that good. The team complained. Nate told the team this wasn't her stage. After the play they waited outside at the car. "No. No. I vote no." Eliot said. "Ah, Parker's right. Dubenich knows us. And we need a fresh face." Nate said. Sophie started walking down the ally as Nate clapped. He walked towards her. They talked a bit. Kaira could tell there was something going on the two. She didn't ask. Nate clapped his hands again. "Alright! Let's uh, go break the law just one more time." Nate said. They all got in. Kaira ended up sitting on Eliot's lap so they all fit. Kaira wanted to kiss him right there, but she couldn't bring herself to. She was nervous about what would happen to their friendship if she made a move. That's how it was for her ever since they met. Just subtle glances that showed they wanted each other but were too scared to make a move. Finally, they arrived back at the apartment and Hardison started his presentation. "Victor Dubenich, Executive Vice President in charge of new technology development over at Bering aerospace." Hardison explained. Eliot came in with popcorn and two beers for him and Kaira. He went over Hardions and Parkers legs and sat next to Kaira as Hardison continued explaining. "Uh, rich daddy, trust fund, Yale M.B.A., blah, blah, blah." Hardison finished. "Victor. Now, when was the last time you met a Victor?" Nathan joked. "Vietnam. Town called Ban Houei Xai." Eliot said. "I remember that!" Kaira said, excited. "Chinese border." Sophie said. "That's an odd thing for you to know." Eliot said. "That's an odd place for you to be." Sophie said with her light British accent, flirting a little. Kaira was jealous. Eliot didn't say anything, just looked at her. Kaira kept as straight of a face as she could. Nate just smiled. "Now, Bearing is in charge of all the big fat government contracts, some Department of Defense research, very classified stuff." Hardison explained. "Can we use that?" Parker asked, grabbing popcorn. "No, I don't think so. Dubenich is in charge of their commercial airline business." Hardison explained. "I know when you sent Dubenich's designs, you weren't suppose to make any copies." Nate said. "No, I promised, and that would be very wrong." Hardison said. "Show me your copies." Nate said. Hardison pulled them up on the screen, chuckling. "It's an airplane." Eliot pointed out. "That's a short-haul domestic airliner. Yeah, usually one hour flights. It's the fastest growing segment of the industry. Very fuel efficient, high tech. Very nice carbon nose. It's got the titanium wrap, three to one. You know, you -- you pick up on a few things here and there." Nate explained, getting up and walking behind the couch by the end of his explanation. Everyone had surprised looks on their faces. "You pick up on a lot of stuff." Hardison pointed out. "Ha!" Parker laughed. Eliot looked at her. "And check this out -- Now, Dubenich and Pierson, they were head to head for five year trying to grab the lead in an industry that's worth, like, eleventy billion dollars." Hardison explained. "So Pierson got their first. Dubenich took the short cut." Parker said. "So he's got a rival. He's got a rival that pisses him off so much he hired us to steal his designs -- this is good." Nate said, pacing behind the couch. "What are you thinking Nate?" Sophie asked. "I'm thinking Nigerians. Yeah. Nigerians will do nicely." Nate said. He walked away. The rest just sat on the couch, confused. "Well, he hasn't changed a bit." Sophie said. They got ready and headed to Dubenich's office the next day.</p><p>Kiara was with Hardison and Nate in a room. Parker, Sophie, and Eliot went to the office to set up Dubenich. Hardison sat down at the computer and started typing. Kiara was nervous, not being around Eliot. She couldn't back him up if things went wrong. "Here come's a mountain of suck." Hardison said, opening up the comms. "You government?" Dubenich asked. "No, no. Private business consortium. We are looking to encourage infrastructure development and economic renewal." Sophie said in a South African accent. "I have no idea what that means in English. W-what does it mean?" Dubenich said, confused. "We create jobs and trade in Africa, keep the graft and the stealing manageable." Sophie said. "She's not awful." Hardison said, impressed. "This is her stage. Sophie Deveraux is the finest actress you've ever seen... when she's breaking the law." Nate said. They listened back into the conversation. "...keep graft and stealing manageable in Africa. Good luck. I don't think I can help. I don't think any human being on Earth could help you with that. Sorry." Dubenich said. Sophie chuckled. "Come on. Let's go and talk somewhere a little less formal, eh?" Sophie suggested, flirting a bit. Dubenich was stumbling, which nearly caused Kiara to break out laughing. "Okay, and... now." Nate ordered. Hardison typed on his laptop. Hardison hacked into the desk lady's computer and put up a blue warning screen, causing her to call I.T., which was Parker. "Hello, I.T." Parker answered in a southern accent. "Yeah, this is Victor Dubenich's office. My computer just completely crashed." The lady explained. "Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear about that. Have you tried turning it on and off again?" Parker asked, still in the accent. "That's a computer thing I, uh -- I told her to say that." Hardison said, proud of himself. "Well done." Nate complimented. "We've got someone on your floor already." Parker said the the lady. "Thank you." She hung up the phone. "Somebody call I.T.?" Eliot asked. "I represent a group of investors who are looking to start an airline for short-haul flights in Africa." Sophie said, giving more of the bait. "Out of Johannesburg?" Dubenich asked. "Okay, he's testing you. You want Bloemfontein." Nate said. "Keep away from the hubs. Revitalize the regional airports. In South Africa, Bloemfontein, for example. But really, it's Nigeria we're focused on." Sophie said. "Yeah, perfect." Nate complimented. "She's scary good at this." Kaira said.</p><p>"Lagos airports are a mess." Dubenich said. "I believe new airplanes will make people feel comfortable while we renew old runways." Sophie explained. "Uh-huh. I don't recall saying anything about new airplanes." Dubenich questioned. "Victor, both you and your chief engineer are scheduled to speak at a shareholder's meeting." Sophie said. "I think you know more about my business than I do." Dubenich said. "I've done my homework. I find you fascinating." Sophie said. Meanwhile, Eliot was busy distracting the secretary so Parker could do her thing. "That's good. It's good to have a passion, you know." The secretary said, liking Eliot. "It is. It is." He said. He kept distracting her while Parker went to the office. "Shouldn't I be playing the computer guy?" Hardison questioned. "No I want you to actually be the computer guy." Nate said. "You are strong for a computer guy." The lady complimented. "Thank you." Eliot said, taking the compliment. Kaira was jealous. She couldn't help it. Nate just gave her a sympathetic look. "I like to work out. I'm trying to stay big. 'Cause I love dressing up like a Klingon and going to all the conventions, you know. Baghk-Lah!" Eliot yelled, causing Kaira to jump. "Sorry." He apologized. "That's okay. Baghk-lah!" The desk lady yelled back, but not as powerful. "Oh, don't you tease me." Eliot faked warned. "Oh, hold up, man. That's not -- that is not cool. That is not cool. We are gonna have a strong talk when you get back." Hardison said, unimpressed. Kaira had to tune out the rest until Eliot was done flirting. She focused on the conversation between Sophie and Dubenich. "Uh, is it--s-sorry, is it Gunshot?" Dubenich questioned. Sophie chuckled. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "Gunstott." Sophie corrected him. "Gunstott." Dubenich repeated to get it right. "I'm really sorry." He apologized again. "Anna." Sophie said. "Anna. Thank you. How's this? If we announce a new product, then you can order as many as your little heart desires." Dubenich said. "Okay, you know what to do. Hit him." Nate told Sophie. "We'd also like to build the planes. More jobs. Build them in Africa, fly them in Africa, sell the rest around the world." Sophie explained. "That's very ambitious." Dubenich complimented. "You have the manufacturing facilities to do all that?" Dubenich asked. "Ah, we can easily raise the funds to build the facilities... if we know for certain we're going to get the contracts." Sophie said. "Attagirl." Nate complimented. "Anna... I'm really sorry, but I can't help you." Dubenich said. Hardison and Kaira looked defeated. "That was a nice try, man." Hardison said, calling it. "Wait for it." Nate said. "And..." Dubenich was about to say. "I understand." Sophie said. "... I really do have..." Dubenich said. "I'll take it to Pierson." Sophie said. Kaira and Hardison's eyes went wide. "Piers -- no, Pierson's a great company. Sure, go ahead. I don't think they can help you, but--." Dubenich was saying before Sophie cut him off again. "Oh, they have a reputation for long term investment. You don't. They're innovators. Yeah. It's probably a better fit." Sophie said. "I know -- I'm aware that you're manipulating me, Anna." Dubenich said. "I should hope so. Hundreds of millions of dollars in new contracts, a lot of good press -- all at your door." Sophie said. It was silent for a few seconds. "Okay, I give up. I'll take the meeting." Dubenich said. "I'll have my office call you." Sophie said. "What? Yeah." Dubenich said, flustered. "Day after tomorrow?" Sophie questioned. Dubenich confirmed, still flustered. They wrapped up the chat. Nate hit Hardison in the shoulder and laughed. "Damn she's good." Kaira complimented, impressed. They shook hands. They finished and went back to Hardison's apartment.</p><p>It was late at night. Kaira was playing pool with Eliot and Nate. Nate checked something with Hardison at the computer. Nate walked back over to the pool table. "Your shot." Eliot said, offering Nate a beer. "I'm fine. Uh, no thanks, five, corner." Nate said. Eliot handed the beer to Kaira as he took his shot. "You look better. Than when we started." Eliot said. "Yeah." Nate said. "It bothers you, doesn't it?" Kaira asked, sipping her beer. "Well, I mean, this isn't suppose to feel..." Nate started explaining. "Good? It's not that hard to figure out. Dubenich screwed you. He cheated by stealing from that other company. And your good guy brain sees him as the bad guy. Your conscience is clear." Eliot said. "You want to take your shot?" Nate told Eliot. Eliot sipped his beer. "Listen, I'm sorry about your kid." Eliot said. Kiara gave him a sympathetic look. "You don't know anything about that." Nate said, not happy it was brought up. "Everybody knows. Guy like you goes off the street, a lot of people notice. And it was a bad story too." Eliot said, sympathetic. "How did the company justify that, Nathan? Not paying for the treatment that would've saved your kid." Kiara asked. Nate had a sad look on his face. "They claimed it was experimental." Nate answered. Eliot took another swig of beer. "Should have kept one of those Monets you found. Hmm? You fence that --" Eliot said before Nate cut him off. "Eliot, Kaira, we are not friends." Nate said, defensively. "Right, Right. 'Cause you have so many of them." Eliot said. "Listen Nate, I know you look down on us because we're thieves, and you're an honest man, and I respect that. I do. But we do have morals. My rules: I will never take a job that requires me to hurt a kid; I don't kill people unless it's me or them, and never use anyone's kid against them. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter. Dubenich crossed that line. So I will make him pay for that. Whether or not you like me after this, I don't care. That is your decision. Think about that Nathan. Incoming." Kiara said, sipping her beer and walking away with Eliot as Sophie walked in. Kaira took Eliot aside. "Listen I need to be honest with you for a second, Eliot." Kaira said to Eliot. "Shoot." Eliot said. "So this thing we have, I like it, I really do. But today I ran into a problem. When you were flirting with the secretary, I got jealous." Kaira said, honest. "I understand. Do you want to pursue something more or stay where we are?" Eliot asked, honest. "I'm worried if we pursue something more, it won't feel the same. I like how it feels now between us, I just don't want to mess that up." Kaira explained, pacing. "I've actually been thinking about that too. I care about you, Kaira. You've been my partner for what, four years now? I trust you. And those same doubts hold me back every time." Eliot said, sipping his beer again. Kaira smiled a bit. "I care about you too, cowboy. You know, in the cop car back at the hospital, I so wanted to kiss you. I got nervous so I didn't." Kaira admitted. "Me too. What's stopping us now?" Eliot questioned. "What?" Kaira asked. "From kissing." Eliot said, getting close to Kaira's face. "Not enough alcohol I guess." Kaira sipped her beer. They both chuckled. "Maybe it's time we let go of all of the doubts. After this job, how about I take you to dinner. My treat. And we can see how it feels and go from there. I'll jump if you jump." Eliot said. "I'd like that cowboy." Kaira said, hugging Eliot. There were smiles on their faces. They loosened and held each other's arms. There was something drawing them closer together. They inched closer and closer together until they finally locked lips. All of the tension was released from Kaira. Eliot's lips tasted like the beer they were drinking, which made Kaira want more. Kaira reciprocated the kiss, then let go. "We should probably head to bed." Kaira said, walking away. "Hey. Did I do something wrong? 'Cause if I did, I'm sorry..." Eliot said before Kaira interrupted. "No Eliot. You did nothing wrong. I just panicked for a second. I liked the kiss too much if you know what I mean." Kaira explained. "Okay. I don't want you to do something because you think I want to do it. I want you to decide for you." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled. "My cowboy. Always looking out for me." Kaira smiled. Kaira kissed Eliot's cheek. "Thank you. I needed that." Kaira said, walking away. Everyone went to bed. Kaira slept okay, but she couldn't stop thinking of her and Eliot's kiss. What did that mean for them? Kaira ultimately decided that after her and Eliot's future dinner, she would see.</p><p>In the morning, everyone got ready. This time, Kaira was walking up steps with Eliot to go to the floor, Parker was ready, and Sophie was about to get ready. Nate was sitting across from the building with Hardison. "Sophie he's on site." Nate reported. "What? No, I'm not ready." Sophie said. Kaira got nervous. "If you don't meet him right now in the lobby, he's gonna go to the building directory and look for the office number. Guys, we are not in the building directory." Nate reported. "And why aren't we in the directory?" Eliot asked. "I-I don't know, maybe because they're fake offices." Hardison retorted. "There's no elevator." Sophie reported. "What office building doesn't have an elevator?" Kaira retorted. "Alright, I'll distract him. Parker you got ten seconds to get Sophie to the lobby." Nate said. Parker called for Sophie, then told her to put on a harness and Sophie could be heard screaming as Parker was way too excited to be rappelling. Kaira and Eliot ran up the steps and switched out the signs. Dubenich complimented Sophie and they went up in the elevator. "One thing -- the, uh -- the gentlemen bringing you this opportunity to work with their government, they'll, um — they'll expect some compensation. Not a bribe of course." Sophie said. "No, no. A finder's fee." Dubenich said. "Exactly." Sophie said. "I thought your job was to eliminate graft and stealing." Dubenich questioned. "No. My job is to keep it manageable." Sophie said. Eliot and Kaira finished switching out the signs just as Sophie and Dubenich arrived. "Nice job on the zipline." Nate complimented Parker. "Totally thought she was gonna break a leg. Not bad for her first time." Parker said, chuckling. The group listened to the deal. "She's closing it up." Nate reported. Sophie finished out the deal and the gang met her in front of the building. "We got him?" Nate asked. "We own him." Sophie said. "Okay, gang, let's go. We got a busy day tomorrow." Nate said. They began to walk away. "This is gonna work, right?" Sophie questioned. "I guarantee it." Nate said confidently. They went back to the apartment and got ready for tomorrow.</p><p>The next day, the gang packed up their things and left to go to the offices. Sophie met with the Nigerians while the rest got ready. Sophie met with Dubenich to get the meeting ready. The gang minus Sophie left with boxes of stuff, which nobody noticed because shreds of paper were falling and FBI agents were everywhere. Nate and Kaira met with Pierson to smooth things over. Nate called Dubenich as he met up with the group, Kaira walking with him down the ramp. "Yeah, you should have just paid us." Nate said. "I found the transmitter." Dubenich said. "No, you found the transmitter with the blinking light. Yeah, we wanted you to figure some of it out, and we just gave you what you were expecting." Nate said. "I am Victor Dubenich. I am gonna beat this." Dubenich said, obviously upset he got played. "Aren't you forgetting about the bribe?" Nate asked. "Who cares? You can't prove anything. I didn't get any money." Dubenich said. "Yeah, no, it doesn't account for all of it. Sophie kept a little to buy an impressive amount of shoes." Nate said before pausing a moment. "See, if a company's stock price falls 10%, 15% in one day and you see it coming, you sell short, you make a lot of money. If it's gonna fall 30%, you can make shattering amounts of money. Ah, we didn't need the FBI to take you to jail. We just needed them to show up and take boxes out of your office. All-day long. In front of TV cameras. Scaring your investors. You going to jail is just a bonus. Oh, and say anything about us to the Feds, next time we won't be so nice." Nate finished, hanging up the phone. Nate and Kaira joined the rest who were looking at the checks they received. "W-come--" Sophie stuttering at her check. "Job well -- whoa." Nate said looking at his check. Kaira opened her envelope as she stood by Eliot. "Holy shit! That's a lot of money." Kaira exclaimed, also confused a bit. She looked at Hardison for an explanation. "There was an overlap in the London stock market. Valuation carried over to NASDAQ and then -- I'm just very good at what I do." Hardison explained. "This is the score. The score." Parker said, excited. "Age of the geek, baby." Hardison reiterated. Eliot smiled. "Someone kiss this man so I don't have to." Eliot said, hitting Hardison with the envelope. Kaira went over and placed a quick peck on Hardison's cheek to show her gratitude. "So... we're out. Huh? I mean, we're out. This is retirement money. Go legit and buy an island money." Hardison said, a little sad. "Yeah, uh, pleasure working with you." Nate said. "Yeah, one show only. No encores." Eliot said. Kaira had a sad look on her face. She liked working with these guys. "I already forgot your names." Parker said. It was silent for a moment when Nate cut through Hardison and Eliot to leave. Then they all left, going in different directions. Kaira and Eliot stopped after a few seconds of walking. Elliot and Kaira had sad looks on their faces. They both stopped.</p><p>"What's on your mind, cowboy?" Kaira asked. "I think we should go with Nate. Maybe start a crew with him. I mean, someone has to be there the next time he falls apart." Eliot said. "I agree. This is our shot for something new. Be apart of something more than just us. We can help people." Kaira said, looking at Eliot, holding him. "Yeah. Let's go find Nate." Eliot said, smiling. They let go and started walking in the direction Nate went and found him with Parker and Hardison behind him. "Want to know what I think?" Eliot asked, he and Kaira walking with the rest. "Not really." Nate said. "How long before you fall apart again?" Eliot questioned. "Oh, I'm touched." Nate retorted. "Yeah, well, a guy like you can't get out of the game, all right? That's why you were a wreck. You need the chase." Eliot said. "Yeah, I'll manage." Nate said when his phone rang. He answered it. "Yeah?" He said into the phone before spotting Sophie on the bench. She got up to meet them. "You know, Nate, I think the six of us can do some good in this world. I've done some bad things in my past. This can redeem me. Redeem us for the bad we did and the people we hurt." Kaira said. "You pick the jobs." Sophie offered. "My job is helping people. I help find bad guys." Nate said. "Well go find some bad guys. Bad guys have money. Black king... white knight." Sophie said. Nate ended up agreeing to the idea. Kaira smiled. She had a new opportunity and a change at redemption. A chance to break the cycle of bad she was in. As Eliot said he would, he took Kaira to a nice restaurant and went on a date. The date went well. Kaira and Eliot decided one more date and they'd make a decision whether or not to pursue a relationship. It was a little later when Nate called them to meet a client. It was an older couple who contacted them after losing their 17-year-old daughter due to a malpractice thing. They met the couple and got the story. The woman was crying and the husband did his best to comfort her. Sophie consoled the couple as Nate sat on a sofa and the other three behind them in suits and a dress. "I'm sorry." The woman said through tears. The man consoled her. "Please, take your time." Sophie said, consoling the poor woman. "She... she was 17." The woman said, still emotional. "I know." Sophie said. "They -- they killed her. They said it was an accident, but that company killed her. I want them hurt!" The woman said, still emotional. "Now... we can't pay you." The man said. "That's okay. Want to tell them Sophie?" Kaira smiled. "We work on an... alternative revenue stream." Sophie told them. The wife calmed down some. "I don't understand. The judge said we couldn't appeal. What are you gonna do?" The man questioned, confused. "People like that... corporations like that, they have all the money, they have all the power, and they use it to make people like you go away. Right now, you're suffering under an enormous weight. We provide... leverage." Nate said. They got more information and left. The crew completed the job and got the compensation for the couple and took down the company. The crew gave their numbers to each other and went their separate ways for the time being. Kaira really enjoyed working with this crew of people. Each one had their own skill set that allowed them to help the others out. Kaira really liked the dynamic of that. She really hoped that Nate would call her soon for the next job. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Homecoming Job (1x2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The once soloists decide to group up and take down other bad guys. With a new cover to keep up the legitimacy, the team helps an army man named Corporal Robert Perry, who claims a defense contractor shot him up and won't pay for his rehab. How will the crew react when put to the test for the first time?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a while since Eliot and Kaira heard from Nate and the rest. Eliot and Kaira traveled a bit, doing jobs and going on dates. Kaira had a hard time making up her mind whether or not she wanted to pursue a relationship with Eliot. Not that it worried Eliot. He'd constantly tell her he'd wait for her to decide. That's what Kaira loved about Eliot. He'd always make sure she was comfortable before doing anything. Kaira was still worried about how their friendship would be if she made a move. Their latest job took them to Berlin. Eliot had put the knocked out guys on the hood of the rental when the other guy pulled a gun out and pointed it at them. Then a phone started ringing. "That you or me?" Eliot asked. "It could be important. Does your mama have your number?" Eliot said. Then Kaira punched the guy in the neck and Eliot grabbed the gun and disarmed it. He then took out his phone and answered it. "Yeah. Nothing, why?" Eliot said into the phone. He spoke some more and hung up. "You gonna keep in suspense, cowboy?" Kaira joked. "That was Hardison. We have another job." Eliot informed her. "Sweet. Fly back to the states as soon as possible, and see what the job is." Kaira said, excited. They packed up and flew back into the states and arrived where Hardison told them to meet.</p><p>They met with the rest of the gang and walked to the floor of the building. "What did you do with the money?" Kaira asked coming up the hall with the gang. "From the first job?" Parker questioned. "Yeah." Eliot confirmed. "I put all that money in a Swiss bank account." Parker said. "Millions of dollars, you didn't buy anything?" Eliot questioned. "I don't like stuff, I like money." Parker said. "I bought a little retirement home in Ireland, and Dubai, and Tokyo." Sophie said. "What about you?" Parker asked Eliot and Kaira. They were at the door and Sophie pulled an orange card with her name on it off the door. "Yeah, I'm not about to tell two known thieves what I did with a multi-million dollar payout." Eliot said. "Used some to travel, put some away, donated some." Kaira said for hers. "Don't you trust us?" Sophie said, chuckling. Then Sophie opened the door. They walked in and right off the back, there was a white room with a desk and a sign that said <em>Leverage Consulting and Associates</em>. "Okay... okay." Sophie said, walking around some. "I don't get it." Eliot said. "What is this?" Parker asked. There was a painting of a man Kaira didn't recognize. Then Hardison came in. "This is our new cover story. Welcome to <em>Leverage Consulting and Associates</em>. Founded in 1913 by the great Harlan Leverage the third." Hardison explained before Sophie started laughing a bit at a painting. Kaira realized it was an older Nate and laughed as well. "I'm sorry. Nate is gonna kill you." Sophie said, trying to stop laughing. "Did you paint that?" Kaira asked. "I'm gifted." Hardison responded. "It's weird." Eliot retorted. Hardison placed files on the desk. "Now <em>Leverage Consulting </em>is squeaky clean. All corporate taxes on record as paid for the last 90 years. All your identities as partners. Payroll taxes are paid. You guys have pension plans and dental. Those are employment records, case files, and company newsletters." Hardison explained handing the papers to the team to look over, continuing the tour. "This is better than my high school job." Kaira retorted. "You had a job in high school?" Parker questioned. "Well yeah, I wasn't always a thief. I had to make money somehow in high school." Kaira explained. Parker looked at her file. "In 1998 I won the sack race at the Fourth of July picnic. Cool." Parker turned around. "Now these... these are your offices. Now you can bring something like a photo, or, Uh— you know what, a plant. I'm a big supporter of dandelions." Hardison explained. The team stopped a second. "Hardison, I can't believe you spent your share of the cash on all of this." Sophie said. "Me, nah, hell nah. Nate paid for all of this. You know, with what he had left. I mean, you know, after he gave the rest of it away." Hardison explained. "Whoa. What do you mean he gave it away?" Eliot said, confused. "Yeah. All of it. Every last penny. It was uh, to... like, some like... children's hospital or something like that." Hardison explained. The team went silent in understanding. "Of course he would." Kaira whispered. Hardison continued the tour. "But this, this is my masterpiece." Hardison said, opening the double door. The team went in as the light went on, revealing a long table with a bunch of seats and screens on the wall. "Nice." Sophie complimented. "This is awesome!" Kaira complimented, amazed. "My man." Eliot said impressed. "Long version or the short version?" Hardison asked. "Short." Sophie said. "Short version." Eliot said. "Shortest." Parker said. "Long version later." Kaira said. Hardison went over to the screens and hit a button on a remote. "Photo and video forensics programs, backdoors into every electronic banking system in the world. Running heuristic data crawlers all over the news sights to find our clients. Oh also..." Hardison explained. "This is the short version?" Parker retorted. "Facial recognition database tied to CIA, NSA, and the FBI. But, the real piece de resistance. Direct tv HD total sports package. NFL, NBA, and I threw in a little hockey, 'cause I know you people like that." Hardison explained. Kaira was impressed. "Hockey." Eliot said in a weird voice. Then the door opened to reveal Nate. "Alright stop kicking the tires. You want to take it for a spin?" Nate tossed the USB to Hardison and he plugged it in as the team sat down to watch the video.</p><p>"See those guys? Private contractors. They make 700 bucks a day. I make seven." A soldier said on screen, holding the camera used to record the video. "Yeah, but you know what they got to do? They got to—" another soldier said before gunshots rang out. Kaira immediately identified the guns used, but she kept silent for the moment. "Our client is the cameraman, Corporal Robert Perry. He says the Castleman constructors spooked and started firing." Nate explained. "5.56 nato rounds mixed in with some nine mils from the submachine guns." Eliot pointed out. "Insurgents would have used AK-47's with 7.62 ammo. It has more of a crack." Kaira hit her hands together to simulate the sound. "Contractors shot him up alright." Eliot finished. "You I.D'd the weapon from the gunshot sound?" Parker questioned. "It has a very distinctive sound." Eliot said. "When you hear gunshots a lot, you connect the caliber to the sound and the distance. He taught me that." Kaira smiled at Eliot. "Castleman security is hardcore, folks. Billion-dollar company. They got fat government contracts everywhere we got troops. That's Charles Dufort. CEO. Very paranoid and very professional." Hardison explained. "I want to get this clear right now. This is a private army you're talking about taking on. They got their own intel assets. They got a lot of trigger pullers." Eliot warned Nate. "Yes and lobbyists in every office in Washington D.C. The problem with a cover-up is all the paperwork it takes to keep the lies straight." Nate said. "Internal emails, memos." Hardison said. "Exactly." Nate confirmed. "So..." Sophie questioned. "Let's go to work." Nate said. They got up to leave. "So, we steal the evidence and, and, threaten to expose them." Sophie realized the plan. "Blackmail." Parker said. "Ah yes, but enough blackmail to pay for Perry's rehab. Maybe a couple million more damages." Nate explained. "That'll never hold up on court." Eliot said. "Ah but that's why Corporal Perry is lucky. He doesn't have lawyers. He has thieves." Nate said. He gestured for them to leave. Nate stayed behind. "Hardison." Nate said, seeing the painting. The team left to get tickets and get ready for a party Dufort was gonna be at.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were waiters, Nate and Sophie were guests, and Parker and Hardison were on safe duty. Kaira and Eliot got changed and went out. Eliot went by Nate as Kaira was nearby. "Next time I wear the suit." Eliot said. "I'm sure you'd look great, cowboy." Kaira flirted a bit. "Duforts here. I'll make contact." Sophie said. "See what you can squeeze out of him." Nate said to Sophie, who was across from him. Sophie and Eliot left. "Parker, Hardison, time to hit his office." Nate ordered them. Parker and Hardison were on the other side of town, hitting Dufort's office. "Uh, I got to go back to the office. I just remembered something." Hardison said, nervous. "What?" Parker asked. "I just remembered gravity. And the squishiness of all my manly bits." Hardison said, obviously not happy. "TMI Hardison." Kaira groaned. "I designed this rig myself. The line is carbon fiber, five point harness, weight support here, here, and here, auto-braking resistance on the main pulley back here." Parker explained. "Okay... okay, cool. So it's tested?" Hardison questioned. "Not yet." Parker said. "Not yet? When the hell was you gonna test it?" Hardison asked. Then Hardison could be heard screaming. "Big baby." Parker said as she flung herself down. "Seriously? Seriously!" Hardison exclaimed, not happy. "Okay, Hardison, Parker, guard troops are every ten minutes, which means you have nine minutes and 30 seconds." Nate informed them. "I'm working on it." Hardison said. "Pardon me, Congressman." Sophie said in a different British accent than her own. "Lilly McCreedy. I'm with Executive Orders." Sophie said. "They're a London based defense contractor. Charles Dufort. Executive Orders doesn't work for the U.S government." DuFort said, slightly defensive. "Yet." Sophie chuckled. "Perhaps we can do something about that." Sophie said. "Yes, well, um... it was very nice to meet you. Now you'll have to excuse me." Congressman Jenkins said. "You're not poaching, are you? Appropriations Bill 718... those are our defense contracts. Don't even bother." Dufort said, defensive again. "Mr. Dufort, surely there's enough war to go around." Sophie said. "I rather like you." Dufort said, trying to flirt. "Hardison, Hardison, what's this, uh, what's this bill they're talking about?" Nate asked. "You know what, I'd like to give you the Schoolhouse Rock, but this man has an RFID security card reader on his power supply, so I'm a little busy." Hardison said. "Nate give me a sec to find a more private area and I'll see what I can find on Google." Kaira said. "Ooh, old school. I found a safe." Parker went silent a second.</p><p>Kaira told a fellow waiter to cover while she left for the bathroom and left. Kaira walked towards the bathrooms. "You're not gonna believe this. It's voice activated." Parker reported. "Alright, well one problem at a time. Uh, Sophie, I'm going in. We need to get a RFID card to Eliot." Nate said. Kaira did a quick search on Google and found nothing. "Nate, real quick, I couldn't find anything on the bill. Sorry boss. Sophie watch yourself. Dufort's really defensive." Kaira reported and went back to the party. Sophie was just chatting up Dufort. "You know the great thing about Congressmen. 50, 100 grand well spent will get one elected. But then, once they're in, the incumbency rate is over 95%. So you can get on average 18, 20 years use out of one. In these uncertain times, buying a United States Congressman is one of the best investments a corporation could make." Dufort said, thinking he was impressing Sophie. "Oh, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. I'm a professional criminal, and I find that disturbing." Hardison said, disgusted. "I agree. At least have a little dignity if you're a criminal." Kaira retorted. She met with Nate on the party floor. Nate grabbed the food on her tray and dipped it in the sauce and wiped it on Dufort's jacket. Kaira just waited for the next bit. Nate walked over to Dufort and distracted him while Sophie grabbed his wallet and grabbed the card. Sophie called Eliot over and Sophie put the card underneath the tray. Eliot then met with Kaira and gave her his tray. Surprisingly she could balance them. "What the?" Eliot questioned. "I waited tables for a bit in high school." Kaira said. Eliot examined the card. "There's no magnetic strip." Eliot said. "It emits a little radio frequency just, just put it up next to the phone that I gave you." Hardison said. Eliot did that. It was silent for a moment. "I'm in." Hardison reported. "Parker, what's the status of the voice lock?" Nate asked. "I've been sampling Dufort's speech, but I still need a few more sounds." Parker said. "How many?" Nate asked. "I only need the sounds puh, tuh, ooh, uh, eh, oh, ah, kuh, ay, eff." Parker reported. "Ah, only those. Eliot?" Nate said. "I'm on it." Elliot said. He made his way over to Sophie and Dufort and tricked him with the dishes. Lets just say eff, ah, and kuh were used in his wording. "Oh, there they are. And really loud too." Parker said, unamused. "Okay, Sophie start the walkaway." Nate said. Kaira went to find Eliot. "That was fun to watch cowboy." Kaira smiled at him. "Thank you." Eliot smiled back. That smile drove Kaira wild every time she saw it. "Where are you going?" Nate asked, curious. "Playing a hunch." Sophie said. "Well play it fast. Hardison, what do you got? You got three minutes." Nate said. "Too much. I got all of Perry's medical records. Uh, which, sure that's pretty normal, but they've got psych evaluations, high school record. They're reading his emails." Hardison said. "Tapping his phones. They've got surveillance photos of Perry here from the hospital yesterday." Parker continued. "Why spend so much money watching our guy? I mean, investigations of the shooting were done months ago." Hardison observed. Suddenly Kaira had a thought. "Shit! Guys the trucks." Kaira blurted. "What?" Parker questioned. "Because it's not about the shooting. Kaira's right. The coverup has nothing to do with the shooting. It's about the trucks." Nate observed, catching onto what Kaira was getting at. Sophie talked with Jenkins and Nate met with her after she was done talking. "Parker, Hardison, bug out. Go back to the office, we're going to the hospital." Nate ordered. "You need to talk with Perry again?" Hardison questioned. "The shooting wasn't an accident. Perry isn't a victim, he's a witness. Castleman strike you as the kind of company to keep a witness alive?" Nate said. Kaira joined Nate, Eliot, and Sophie as they went to the hospital.</p><p>They walked in and searched for Perry. "He's not in his damn room." Nate reported. "We're checking all the corridors that are connected to the exterior doors." Eliot reported, grabbing a doctor's coat. "Nate, Sophie, check the therapy room. He might be there." Kaira suggested, continuing the sweep. Nate and Sophie found Perry. "Nate, we're clear. We can't find..." Eliot said just before getting interrupted by a doctor. "Excuse me, do you work on this floor?" The female doctor asked. "No, we uh, work up on Orthopedics, we're just looking for my wallet. Always dropping the damn thing." Kaira tried to smile. Then the doctor noticed Eliot's crocs. That caused Eliot and Kaira to look at the two guys walking ahead of them. Kaira and Eliot immediately looked at their shoes. They were wearing combat boots. Eliot and Kaira ran towards them. They followed for a bit until they saw the two guys and Sophie, Nate, and Perry. Nate told them to go to the elevator as Eliot ran into one of the guys and Kaira dealt with the other. They used an IV pole to disarm the one, and as a hitting pole. One of the guys lept towards Kaira with a knife, and she pushed him towards Nate, who had the defibrillator on, and knocked him out. Then Eliot took out the other guy. Eliot looked impressed as he and Kaira ran to another elevator.</p><p>They met up at the office, where they dumped a bag of things from a bag Eliot grabbed off one of the hitters on the table to look at. "Got all this stuff off one of the Castleman hitters." Eliot said, examining at the gun. Sophie picked up a piece of paper and read it. "I can't live with the pain, I'm so sorry." This is a suicide note." Sophie observed. "The gun is registered in Robert Perry's name. The bill of sale belongs to a gun shop a mile from his house." Hardison said. Nate walked in and poured a glass of whiskey. "I got Perry squared away in a safe house." Nate told the team. "Playtime's over Nate. It's only a matter of time before they come after us." Eliot said. "Nathan, Castleman wanted to make Perry's death to look like a suicide. They watched Perry and learned little details about him. If we put a target on us, they won't stop until we are dead. Whether we die in prison or from a bullet, it doesn't matter, Nathan. We have to be careful." Kaira said, not happy with how close things got. "The tall one, the way he used a knife, ex-marine. Probably force recon." Eliot pointed out. "You I.D'd a guy off his knife fighting style?" Hardison questioned. "It's a very distinctive style." Eliot explained. Nate drank out of the bottle and Eliot just exhaled, confused. Kaira gave him a dirty look. "For later." Nate said, putting the glass down. "I didn't sign up for any of this. What I did before, no one got hurt." Hardison said. "I stole paintings for a living." Sophie said. "I never hurt anybody." Parker said. "We've actually hurt people, so." Eliot said, him and Kaira shrugging their shoulders. "Nate if anything had happened to this kid today..." Sophie said before Nate interrupted. "You know, you guys, you called on me, you remember? You begged me to run the crew, agreed to play by my rules. Now walk out if you have a problem with that. Walk out any day if you have a problem with that. It's simple." Nate said, starting to rant a bit, obviously a bit drunk. It was silent for a moment. "We finish this one." Eliot said. "Just one." Parker said. "Can't leave a job unfinished, can I?" Kaira said, showing her distaste with what happened. "How do we hit 'em?" Hardison asked. Nate looked at Sophie. "Congressman Jenkins, he's our in." Sophie said, sitting down. "Looked me straight in the eye and told me he'd never even heard of the shooting." Sophie said. "So?" Parker questioned. "Parker, the only time a man ever looks a woman in the eye is when he's making the effort to lie to her." Kaira explained. Sophie looked at her impressed. "Correct." Sophie said. "Well, you can't argue with that." Eliot said, leaning on the table. Hardison just shook his head. "Noted and filed." Hardison said. "Men." Kaira retorted. "Alright, Jenkins is Dufort's pet congressman. Let's see if we can get him to bite. The best way to get two people to tell a secret... get them to turn on each other." Nate said, revealing the plan. Eliot and Kaira packed up the hitter's stuff and Sophie took Nate's bottle. Then Nate grabbed the glass and started drinking it.</p><p>A bit later Sophie and Nate set up Jenkins and Dufort. The rest of the team was at the office. "Congressman Jenkins is very careful. No direct bribes, but he's renovating his house and so far he's received over six hundred thousand dollars worth of work for a little over 50 grand." Hardison explained. "Castleman owns the contracting company, huh?" Eliot questioned. "I mean, he's going through like three shell companies, but yeah. This man loves his house. Just check out his web browsing habits. Look here... the man spent three weeks picking out the perfect mahogany wood panels. This site is like wood porn." Hardison explained. "Is his house finished?" Kaira asked. "Not even close." Hardison answered. Hardison looked at Eliot, thinking what they were thinking. "Can I borrow your phone?" Eliot asked, chuckling. Hardison dialed the number and gave the phone to Eliot. "Hello, yes. Uh, I'd like to cancel delivery on some mahogany wood paneling, please." Eliot said. "Jenkins house." Eliot said as Hardison tried to grab the phone. Eliot stood up. "Yeah, you know what? Do me a favor man and go ahead and cancel the whole order." Eliot said, walking away. Nate walked in with beer and popcorn. "What's he doing?" Nate asked. "Making the Congressman really pissed off." Kaira chuckled. "Uh-huh. Parker started her run yet?" Nate asked, sitting down. "Just now." Hardison said. Nate and Kaira sat down and she grabbed a beer and a piece of popcorn. "You know, I still think it would be easier for me to just hack the bill in the printer queue." Hardison said. "No, no, no computers, no. A bill is put into a wooden box on the Congressional floor called the hopper." Nate explained. "A wooden... whoa, whoa. A wooden -- a wooden box?" Hardison questioned. "A wooden box." Nate confirmed. "Wood. Oh we can put a man on the moon, but all our laws go into a wooden box." Hardison said. "What we need to do is we need to get Dufort to believe that Jenkins is abandoning him, that Jenkins submitted the Appropriations bill that doesn't have any of the usual contracts for Castleman. Which means that we have to put our own pages into the bill." Nate explained. "That means the only place we could get at it would..." Hardison thought a second before getting the idea. "Ahh! Okay." Hardison realized. "I mean, break a law, everybody's done that. My nana's done that. But steal a law... oh, she's gonna be a legend, baby." Hardison said, amused with himself. Kaira couldn't help but smile. On the security footage, they saw Parker put the bill in the hopper. "The Eagle has landed." Parker reported. "It's in." Kaira said, excited. "Uhh! Go ahead, girl. Sexiness." Hardison meowed. "I like it." Hardison said, way too excited. Kaira just chuckled. "You night want to ease up on that a little bit. I'm just saying, between me and you." Nate said, uncomfortable. "Between me and you. Me and you." Hardison said, pointing to him and Nate. "Never leaves the room." Nate said. It was a matter of time before Sophie and Parker came back.</p><p>Before they did, Kaira and Hardison listened to hours of a phone conversation between Jenkins and Dufort. Finally, they had something and showed it to the team. Then Sophie and Parker came in. "Sophie, Parker, welcome back." Kaira said, hugging the two ladies. They went to sit down. "Hi. So, how was Washington?" Nate asked. "Well, villains, con men, wolves in sheep's clothing. I felt right at home." Sophie said. "This is pretty amazing. Listen to them." Nate said. The conversation was mostly them arguing. "There's about an hour of this, but here's the high point." Hardison said. "Tell me about it." Kaira retorted. The conversation basically revealed that Jenkins basically cleared everything up after the shooting. "Now after that, there's -- it's -- well, whatever you call the rich guys on telephones' version of makeup sex." Hardison summed up. "Now we know that Castleman makes a thousand shipments a month. Cross-reference them with the Congressman's phone records and Manila dated right after the shooting, you get a match." Kaira explained. Hardison pulled up the information. "Their shipments come through here." Hardison pulled up an image of a storage yard of containers. "Now somewhere in this madness is container 541. It's currently sitting at the port of Los Angeles." Hardison explained. "What's in it?" Parker asked. "No idea, but it's moving in two days... heading to the main Castleman storage facility in Kansas." Hardison explained, sitting down again. "Now that... that's why they tried to hit Perry, right there. That's it." Nate realized. "Yeah, wanted to tie up all the loose ends before they tuck this one away at home base." Eliot said. "What do you ship in a crate from Iraq?" Sophie asked. "Oh, boy. Something worth killing for." Nate said.</p><p>The gang left to look inside the crate. Nate and Sophie were at the front gate on lookout as the other four snuck in and went to find the crate. "How's security?" Nate asked. The four hid behind a crate and looked out. "Dockyard entrance is no problem." Eliot said, looking a bit. "Found it. 541." Kaira reported. Eliot went to leave, but Hardison and Kaira stopped him. "Hold up, Rambo." Hardison said, looking at his phone. "Okay, no lasers. No motion detectors. No vibrations, no..." There was a beep from Hardison as he said, "Whoops." "What whoops?" Nate asked, alarmed a bit. "There's a webcam. I'm picking up its broadcast on my phone." Hardison said, trying to disable it. Eliot went back to grab a rock. "I see it, up on that pole." Parker said. "Watch this." Eliot whispered in Kaira's ear. Kaira smiled. "I just have to spoof the I.P. address and overlay a digital duplicate on the wi-fi and--" Hardison was about to say before Eliot threw a rock and broke the webcam. "-Or that." Hardison said. "Let's go. Come on." Eliot said as they left, Hardison behind. "I'm sorry it was too far away for you to punch. I'm sure that really frustrated you." Hardison retorted as he followed. They jogged over to the crate and Parker went to pick the lock. "What do you think is in there?" Hardison asked. "Artifacts from Baghdad museums, maybe some from the Saddam Palaces." Parker said. "No I bet it's weapons. A lot of back alley arms dealing going on in a war zone." Eliot said. "I think it's either guns or artifacts. Cash is too risky without a cover. Artifacts and guns, easy covers if you get caught. You can say some bullshit story that the artifacts are going to museums here and the guns are going to get destroyed. Sell them on the black market. You get your money. Or use the artifacts to store your cash." Kaira said. Eliot looked impressed. Then Parker removed the lock. The women stepped back as the men opened up the door. Inside the crate was pallets of cash. "Money's good, too." Hardison said, surprised. "Well, these guys are dumber than I thought. Who the hell smuggles open cash?" Kaira questioned. Parker went and hugged the cash. She started laughing hysterically. After Parker's moment, the gang got on top of a container and laid down as the guards went by to check out the container. After the guards left, they went down and rendezvoused at the office.</p><p>Parker put some money she grabbed on the table as she started getting too comfy with it. Hardison went to examine it to see if it was real. "Okay. That's worth killing for." Sophie said. "It still doesn't make sense. Why not hide the cash in something so it's not out in the open? If they got caught, it would be hard to explain why you have pallets of cash in your container." Kaira said. Hardison walked in with the cash he had. "Ultraviolet checks out, paper checks out. The watermark, the ink, it all checks out." Hardison explained. "There's a whole container of it, from Iraq of all places. It's got to be counterfeit." Sophie said, not buying the cash was real. Parker started rubbing the cash against her face. "No, it's real. It feels real." Parker said, happy with herself. "Hey, what do you got going on? You and Hardison? What is it, like a creepy contest?" Eliot questioned, writing on a notepad. "I don't know. What is it -- 200, 300 million in U.S. currency? What's it doing in Iraq?" Sophie questioned. Nate was pacing behind them. Kaira was just trying to figure out what was going on. "We sent it there." Nate said. "What?" Eliot and Kaira questioned. "Beginning of the Iraq war, my old company helped insure the largest currency transfer in history. Billions and billions in ones, fives, and 20s, all cash, sent to Iraq for reconstruction." Nate explained. Kaira was shocked. "Bribes." Eliot realized. "As needed. Nine billion went missing." Nate said, sipping his coffee, which likely had whiskey in it. "Wait. Billion with a B?" Sophie questioned, standing up and walking a bit. "How the hell do you lose nine billion dollars and do nothing?" Kaira questioned, wrapping her head around the whole thing. "Nine billion dollars of U.S. taxpayer money just... disappeared?" Sophie questioned. "Castleman gets a cut of the booty. The day they go to move it, real soldiers, they see the transfer." Hardison realized. "One of the contractor's spooks starts shooting." Eliot said. "Wrong place wrong time." Kaira said. "Yeah, but Corporal Perry didn't see anything." Parker said. "Castleman doesn't know that. As far as Castleman is concerned, they see Perry as a loose end, a liability. They don't have loose ends." Kaira said. "Castleman's a billion-dollar company. Why would they even care about this cash?" Hardison questioned. "Because it's cash. You know, money is money. That's one thing. Cash is a whole other thing. For all the money in the economy, there's only about five hundred dollars in cash for every American." Nate explained. "Plus cash can't be tracked. Money can." Kaira pointed out. "Untraceable small bills -- perfect for slush funds, or, um... home improvements for a U.S. Congressman." Sophie said. "Or small time donors, you know, for re-election." Hardison said. "It's money laundering." Nate said. "How so?" Sophie questioned. Kaira had a confused look on her face. Nate went over to a tablet and started writing on the screen. "All right, well, Castleman uses the illegal cash to re-elect his congressman. Congressman gets him no-bid contracts for government jobs. And then the government... pays for his services with legal money. And there's the circle right there." Nate explained, drawing images to help as he explained. "They turned the entire U.S. government into a money laundering scam." Hardison said. "Guess they're smarter than I thought." Kaira said. "I never thought I'd say this, ever -- that is just way too much money to steal." Sophie said, sliding the money to the opposite end of the table. "No, you're not gonna steal it. You don't remember? You're the good guys now. You're gonna give it back." Nate said. The team went silent for a bit. "We still have to steal it from Castleman, though." Kaira said. The team chuckled as they went to plan.</p><p>Nate and Sophie were going to distract the security so Eliot could mislead Jenkins to the container, leaving Parker, Hardison, and Kaira to stealing the cash. They got to work before dusk. Parker and Kaira sneaked by as Nate and Sophie started a fight at the entrance. Eliot went to give Jenkins the key to the container. "They changed the lock." Parker pointed out. "Just do what you do." Hardison said, unsure of the problem. "I mean, whatever, what do you mean?" Hardison asked before Parker brought out a bomb. "Nah. Mnh-mnh. Stop all that playin'. Mnh-mnh. Hell, no." Hardison said, walking away. "That works I guess." Kaira retorted, also getting to safety. Then the bomb went off and Hardison drove the truck away with Kaira getting in the back with Parker. They picked up Sophie and Nate and drove away with Castleman in tow. The truck stopped and Hardison opened the back of the truck to reveal the empty truck. Then they left, watching the news of Jenkins and Dufort looking like idiots. What actually happened was Kaira moved the webcam before Parker set the charge on container 542. Hardison had recorded the video and then had it sent to the reporters and faked a phone call to get them there. They got in the back just as the charge went off and Hardison drove off. Nate and Sophie went into the truck and went in the false back. They drove to the hospital and Nate texted Perry to meet them outside.</p><p>They waited as Perry and Dr. Laroque walked towards them. "What's this about?" She asked. "I don't know. Mr. Ford said he wanted us down here right away." Perry explained. They stopped in front of the gang. Kaira waved. "What do you want?" Dr. Laroque asked. "Show them." Nate said, moving so Hardison could open the truck. "An empty truck?" She questioned. "Nothing up my sleeve." Hardison said before he and Kaira tore the false back of the truck, revealing a few pallets of cash. "Is this stolen?" Dr. Laroque asked. "Not anymore." Sophie said. "What are we suppose to do with it?" Dr. Laroque asked. "Pay for Corporal Perry's rehab." Sophie said. "And some other guys' rehabs." Hardison said. "Pretty much whatever you want." Parker said. "Doc. A few cute girls show up with a couple million dollars, I'd say we take the win. Thank you." Perry said. Kaira chuckled as she and Eliot walked over to shake Perry's hand. "Corporal. Thank you." Eliot said. Then Kaira shook his hand. "Thank you, Perry." Kaira said. "No, thank you. I got my rehab now." Perry said, a little emotional. So was Kaira. She hugged him and stepped back. "The world doesn't work this way." Dr. Laroque said. Nate walked over to her as Kaira walked over to them. "So, change the world." Nate said, putting his hands on the docs shoulders. He then walked away and Kaira hugged her. "Thank you for always fighting for these guys. You deserve this." Kaira said, letting go and following the rest of the gang. She hugged Eliot and he put his arm around her. The waited at the car ahead of the truck and were silent, enjoying the moment. "Anybody who wants to walk away, can do it right now." Nate said. Kaira knew her answer. She sure as hell wasn't leaving. Someone needed to be there for Nate in case he went off the rails again. Plus she felt good. She helped someone who deserved it. Eliot looked at Kaira, reading her mind. "One more." Eliot said. "Maybe two." Hardison said. Kaira couldn't help but smile. Nate walked away as Eliot and Kaira held hands. "I bought a plant." Parker said. Kaira laughed a bit. "Nice. Team spirit." Hardison said, walking away. "What does it do?" Parker asked, following. "I can't believe you gave all your money away. You didn't buy yourself anything." Eliot said. "Oh I bought a car." Nate said. "Probably a station wagon." Hardison joked. "An electric car." Nate informed them. "Of course." Eliot slightly smiled, chuckling. "How sweet. Do you have to wind it up?" Sophie joked. "Eh, just trying to be responsible." Nate said. "Responsible? You know it sucks to be the good guy." Hardison said. "You haven't figured it out yet, have you? Just cause you're the good guys now, doesn't mean you can't have a little fun along the way." Nate said, getting in his bright red Tesla. Kaira chuckled. Nate drove off. "Whoo-hoo." Parker breathed, amused a bit. "Oh, boy. Midlife crisis." Sophie said. "Absolutely." Eliot said. "Definitely midlife." Hardison said. "Totally midlife crisis." Parker said. Kaira chuckled as her and Eliot held hands again and walked off, the rest following them. "So, you two seem lovey-dovey." Sophie said, smiling. Kaira chuckled and looked at Eliot. "Are you two dating finally?" Hardison asked. "No. We've still got some things to talk about before we make that leap." Kaira said, a bit embarrassed. Eliot just smiled as they left to go home for the night. They arrived and went to get changed. "You know, Eliot, this is the best I've ever felt after a job. I mean, we made a difference. Like, actually made a difference." Kaira said, smiling. "I know." Eliot said, smiling at Kaira. She went over and hugged him. "Thank you for being there for me, cowboy." Kaira said. "Thank you for being there for me, princess." Eliot said, smiling. They kissed. Then they went to bed and waited for the next time Nate called. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Two-Horse Job (1x3)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team's latest client? A man named Willie Martin, a horse trainer whose stable was caught on fire. He's also friends with Eliot. The team decides to con the man who owned Willie's horses, Alan Foss, into giving them the last surviving horse, Baltimore. With an old flame of Eliot's involved in the con, will both him and Kaira hold it together for this job? If so, what will happen to their relationship?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate, Eliot, and Kaira arrived in Kentucky to an old friend of Eliot's. The trio walked in and Eliot introduced them to the client. They chatted a bit before Willie, the client, explained what happened. "Nine dead. One horse survived, Baltimore, with smoke in his lungs. My family's been training horses since the Civil War. Never had anything like this." Willie explained. "But you didn't own any of those horses, right?" Nate questioned, trying to understand the situation. "That's not how it works. Trainers raise 'em, they break 'em, and they race 'em, but they don't own 'em. It's a rich man's game." Eliot explained, slight anger in his voice. "But I always dreamed of having my own horses. So when this wall street guy came to town -- Mr. Foss -- said he wanted to start his own horse franchise, Mr. Ford he offered me 10% ownership -- real ownership. I took the deal. And six months later, the horses aren't running to Foss' liking--" Willie explained before Eliot jumped in. "He burned nine horses, Nate -- nine of them -- to get his investment back." Eliot explained, a calm anger to him, which worried Kaira. Not that she could blame him. "And he's running around blaming me for the fire. Bad enough I lost my stable. No one will ever hire me again. I'm uninsurable." Willie said, "Well, Foss is up for a two million dollar insurance payout, so we can get you a piece of that money back." Nate offered before Kaira shot up in her seat. "I'm gonna stop you there, Nathan. Willie doesn't want the damn money. What we're gonna do is get Baltimore back, destroy Foss, and make sure he can't own a damn thing again. And maybe a few hundred thousand dollars to help Willy rebuild his stable and for emotional damages." Kaira said, getting heated. "Yes. That's it. Nothing more." Willy said, taking the offer. Just then a blond-haired woman entered. She looked at Eliot, pissed. "You called him." The woman said, not happy. "We need him." Willie said. "Yeah, no, we don't." The woman said. "I forgot how much I like these southern welcomes." Eliot said, a hint of a smile. "Eight years, no phone calls, no letters. You don't earn a homecoming parade." The woman said. "How's your husband, Aimee?" Eliot asked. "Gone. Seems I have a weakness for men with one foot out the door." Aimee said. She walked out the door. Willie excused himself and left. Eliot had a look on his face. "So when you said you knew the family, you meant you... knew the family?" Nate questioned. "Please tell me you weren't engaged to her, Eliot?" Kaira asked. "No. I may have given her a promise ring, or..." Eliot said. "Seriously? A promise ring?" Kaira retorted. "What's that?" Nate asked. Eliot was trying to explain before Nate told him to stop. "Well, there's no way we're gonna do this if I have to worry about you being stupid because you're too involved with..." Nate said before Eliot got defensive. "I'm not involved. I'm -- I want to help Willie. Did you hear the guys story? Scouts honor." Eliot said defensive before saluting with his left pointer and middle finger. "Wrong hand." Nate corrected. Eliot scoffed as they left to fill in the team about their new case.</p><p>Hardison got his presentation ready and started. "Alan Foss, hedge fund manager for Smith and Marken in New York. He made 40 million in the last two years. And he picked up some pretty high cost, low profile hobbies. Started with high stakes poker and now owning racehorses." Hardison was explaining when Parker raised her hand. She cleared her throat. "I think I have a fever. Can I be excused from this one?" Parker asked. "Oh. Come here. Let me feel your head." Sophie said, trying to see if Parker was lying. Nate stopped them. "No, don't -- don't feel her. Why do you -- what -- what's the deal? W-what--" Nate questioned. "I once saw a horse kill a clown." Parker said, zoning out a bit. Kaira and the rest were trying to figure out if Parker was lying or not. Parker stopped zoning. "I just really don't like horses." Parker said. "Moving on." Nate said. "Six months ago, Foss poured a pile of cash into buying all the horses from Willies stable. After the fire--" Hardison was explaining before Eliot interrupted. "Massacre. The massacre." Eliot corrected, serious. "Ooh. You are a bit hot on this one." Sophie observed. "O-okay. Hot. Yes. Everybody, y'all want to take over the briefings? Okay, I-I go to a lot of trouble to make these things interesting -- have a little something visual for the visual learners and the auditory listeners. And I-it's just interruption--" Hardison ranted before Parker cut him off. "Hey -- I.Y.S. Your old insurance company holds the policy on Foss' horses." Parker pointed out to Nate. "Is that gonna be a problem?" Sophie asked. "No, if I can find a way to stick it to my old bosses, even better." Nate said. "Our mission is to take Foss's last surviving horse and deliver it to Eliot's friend Willie. Meet Baltimore. Three wins, two places. Insured for 200,000 dollars. Thank you very much. That concludes this briefing. Appreciate your attention. Now, how do we get the damn horse?" Hardison concluded his briefing. "Well, what do we know about Foss' schedule?" Nate asked. "According to his online calendar, he's going to a big race at Kensington racetrack this weekend." Hardison answered. "We go to the track, see if we can get Willie's horse back for him." Kaira said. Nate looked at Sophie. "Miss Deveraux..." Nate said. Sophie leaned back. "...How is your southern belle?" Nate asked. "I'm sorry, but you have to really be a piece of shit to kill horses and frame an innocent man for it." Kaira said, heated. The team left to head to the racetrack.</p><p>When making the covers, Kaira insisted on being with Eliot as Nate's aliases trainers. Sophie chatted up the crowd while Parker was on watch as the other four set up the poker game. Hardison, being the genius that he was, put up a system so they could basically see Foss's hand during the game. Eliot sat in the hot seat and Kaira handed him five random cards. "He's got trip threes." Hardison said, testing the system. Eliot turned the cards around. "Damn." Kaira complimented. Sophie flirted with Foss so Parker could get his wallet. "He's got a 50,000 limit." Hardison reported. "He bet on Kentucky Thunder." Parker reported. Sophie chatted Foss up more about the poker game. "He's got 50,000." Nate reminded Sophie. Foss accepted the 50,000 buy-in for the game. After the race, the rest got the game ready while Sophie brought Foss in. Kaira sat on Eliot's lap, acting like the two were a couple. Hardison was next to them and there was a seat open for Nate. They acted like they were chatting when Sophie came in. "Evening gentlemen and ladies." Sophie said in a southern accent. "Mr. Foss, this is our friend, Sheik Khalid from Dubai. His daddy did business with my daddy. Oil first, then horses." Sophie introduced Hardison. "Pleasure's mine. Good luck." Hardison said. "Thank you." Foss said. "This here is Brad Mackie and his girlfriend Crystal Smith, two of the best trainers in town." Sophie said, introducing Kaira and Eliot as they shook hands. "Oh, really? Really? Well, why don't they work for me, then?" Foss asked. Eliot got a look on his face as Nate came in. "Well, evening, ladies." Nate said with a southern accent, walking in. "Didn't have to wait for me." Nate said. "Because we work for him." Eliot said. Kaira played right into what was set up. "I'd have caught up. Bob Gibson. Who are you?" Nate asked in character. Foss held out his hand for Nate to shake it but didn't. "Bob, this is Alan Foss -- the investor from New York." Sophie said. "Oh, yeah -- the one whose stable burned down, right? You're the guy that had the stable burn down and all them horses got--" Nate made a clicking death sound. "Yeah? Well I know you're new around here and everything, so why don't I just give you a little tip -- don't let your stable burn, there, boss. Bossy." Nate taunted. "Why don't we play some cards?" Nate suggested, gesturing for the deal to start when Foss spoke up. "Actually, why don't you just hold on one second, please. Do you mind if I, uh...anybody mind -- I got this out of the gift shop today -- play with a fresh deck?" Foss held up a new deck of cards. Kaira just shrugged her shoulder, signaling the others to accept. "That's a rookie move, but I don't mind." Nate said. "Why don't you just hand her the deck there, uh, Fossil... so we can play some cards and you can lose some money." Nate said. The dealing and playing started. Luckily for the team, Kaira was pretty good at poker. Had quite the poker face too. She'd lean into Eliot, acting like she was giving him hints on how to play. After some playing, Foss spoke. "All right. Uh, I'm 40,000 light. But I'm sure this will just be worth--" Foss said, about to take off his watch before Nate stopped him. This was gonna get interesting. "We play for cash or we play for horses. Now, you still got one of those left, or did you lose that one too?" Nate said. "Cute." Foss said, pulling out a paper from his jacket pocket. "Alright. I'm going to put in my last horse -- Baltimore. Witness it." Foss said, passing the paper for Sophie to sign. "Thanks darling." Foss said, putting the paper in the pot. "See? 'Cause that's how we do it where I'm from, Hoss." Foss said, thinking he was tough. "You're bluffing." Nate said. Foss showed his cards. "There's four nines. Good?" Foss asked. "Damn. Mm." Nate groaned, adjusting his seat. "C.U" Foss said, making the letters with his hands. Nate revealed his hand. Four Jacks. Foss got angry as Kaira tried to keep a straight face. "You're a cheating son of a bitch!" Foss yelled. "I don't know what you're talking about." Nate said. What happened was they passed a Jack to Nate under the table using sleight of hand techniques. "Why don't you make sure Jersey boy here gets my horse, number one, and you -- well, you can come back to play with us anytime you want." Nate said. "Okay, you know what? This isn't binding, so good luck." Foss argued. "Oh, it's not binding, huh?" Nate questioned Foss. "No." Foss said, frustrated. "You had four nines, and I had four Jacks. Four nines, four Jacks. Four jacks, I believe, is better than four nines." Nate said. "I believe so, sir." Kaira said in a southern accent, smiling at the ridiculousness of the moment. "I'll tell everybody from Vegas to Houston that Alan Foss welches on his bets. Is that what you want? I'll tell 'em." Nate said. Foss threw his cards towards Nate, scattering them everywhere on the table as he stormed out. "Pleasure doing business." Nate said, laughing. Nate and Eliot looked at each other "I owe you one. Thank you." Eliot said, shaking Nate's hand. "I probably should have said this before we played, but I am actually pretty good at poker. I used to play all the time and used to win a lot too. I actually got the nickname Poker Face because I couldn't be read." Kaira smiled, chuckling. The team just gave her a look. "We're done." Nate said in his normal voice. They packed up and left for the next day to get the horse.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira went to the place they were staying at. She sat on the bed, sighing. "What's wrong, Princess?" Eliot asked. "Is it wrong to say that I really enjoyed us playing a couple?" Kaira asked, nervous. "No. 'Cause I did too." Eliot said. "I've been thinking. I'm almost ready to take the leap with you, Eliot." Kaira said, more nervous than ever. "Alright. I'll be ready when you are." Eliot said, nervous as well. "I need to think about it, just to be sure I'm ready. Give me till after this job. Ask me again and I'll give you an answer." Kaira said. "Deal." Eliot smiled. "Aren't deals usually sealed with a kiss?" Eliot joked. "Yes, cowboy." Kaira said. "Wait, you're serious?" Eliot asked. "Just get your ass over here and kiss me." Kaira all but ordered. "Yes, ma'am." Eliot smiled. They kissed a quick, passionate kiss. They let go and went to bed.</p><p>The next day, they met the gang at the track. Nate informed them of their new problem, James Sterling. Nate's old partner and rival at I.Y.S and the only person Kaira knew that could keep up with Nate's mind. This was a problem. "Is it true Sterling spent three days in the trunk of a car waiting to catch someone?" Parker asked. "No." Nate said. "It was five." Sophie said. "What?" Parker questioned. "This is a problem Nathan." Kaira pointed out. "Look, I'm not saying that he's better than you were, but--" Sophie explained before Nate cut her off. "Were? I-I'm sorry." Nate said, offended. "We need to get Willie that horse back and get out of here very, very quickly." Sophie said. "It's a little too late for that. I mean, Sterling thinks that I'm trying to get my job back, right? He doesn't care about the claim anymore. He's just gonna mess with anything I do." Nate said. "No doubt." Kaira retorted. "If I try to keep Baltimore for myself, he's gonna try to get Baltimore back for Foss. If I give Willie the horse, Willie becomes the target, and believe me you don't want to be, you know, the target of Sterling." Nate said. "Great. So, wait, wait. You're saying Willie loses the horse and Foss stays in business? Nice." Eliot said, not happy. "No, no, no. Listen. I think I know a way we can tackle both -- I think. Sophie, try to get Foss here. And you guys keep a tab on Sterling. Run interference. Eliot, Kaira, find us a stable." Nate ordered. They did just that. Eliot had to call Aimee to get the stable, which Kaira wasn't happy with, but dealt with it. "Aimee got us the horses. We need her help to pull this off." Eliot informed Nate as they were walking through the stables. "So all of these are mine?" Nate asked. "Uh, well, no. Trainers work with a lot of different owners, so only a few of them will be yours. But the stables belong to the trainers, not the owners. So his office would be right down there." Aimee explained, not looking at Eliot once. "You can't even say my name now?" Eliot asked. "No, sirree." Aimee said. Kaira didn't say anything. "Uh, and the logos?" Nate asked. "Like she said -- me and Kaira's stable." Eliot explained. "These stables all look the same, so the only way to differentiate between them is the logos. Hardison faked a couple this morning." Kaira explained. "Anything else you need so you can wrap this up and go back to being a somewhat disappointing memory?" Aimee asked. Kaira and Nate looked at the former couple. "I thought you said you were fine with this." Eliot said, semi quietly. "I thought you said you were coming back in three weeks." Aimee said before Nate interrupted. "Oh boy, this is perfect." Nate said, walking ahead.</p><p>Kaira walked off with Eliot following. Aimee walked off somewhere else. They went to the office Aimee got for them. They shut the door and went inside. Parker and Hardison ran interference with Sterling, locking him in his electronic car. Sophie and Nate talked with Foss before coming in. "Listen whatever you still got with Aimee, lock it up now cowboy. I still care about you, okay?" Kaira said. Eliot agreed. "Okay. Here's how we're gonna do this. Sit down on the desk." Kaira said. Eliot did. Then Kaira straddled Eliot and waited until they were closer to lock lips with Eliot. Then the three walked in. "Woah. Uh, you -- I don't remember your names, but I need your office." Nate barged in. "Dammit, Gibson." Kaira scoffed, standing up with Eliot. "No, today. Today. Not -- not -- not -- not tomorrow. Today." Nate said. Eliot got up and Nate sat down at the desk, putting his feet on the desk. "All right, go." Nate said. "Alright, look. My insurance guy's a real prick. He says until the claim clears, I can't sell that last horse." Foss explained. "Yeah, well, of course, he did." Nate retorted. "Alright, anyway, whatever. Um, I would like to buy Baltimore back, please. Okay, so here is 40,000 dollars." Foss said, getting money out. "No, the price went up. It's two million." Nate said. "What -- ex -- say what?" Foss questioned. "I got this big deal coming up, don't I, darlin'? And I could use the liquid cash. Two million bucks." Nate said, looking at Sophie. "You know what? You're ridiculous. You're a joke." Foss insulted Nate. "Well, that's how we play where I come from. Listen. Why don't you and I -- why don't we go talk about how much money you're gonna make me. And you -- why don't you call me when you're serious." Nate said, looking at Sophie. Nate got up to leave and Sophie went to follow him. "Come on, there Kitty." Nate said. "Oh, you're just gonna go wi -- 'cause, yeah, he's -- he's -- he's a real charmer. Have a good time." Foss said as Nate and Sophie left, leaving Foss with Eliot and Kaira. Kaira and Eliot chuckled. "I'm sorry. I've just seen that look before. That's a Bob Gibson special." Eliot said. "What, are you serious?! How do you even put up with that?" Foss exclaimed. "He's extra moody this week 'cause of this deal he's got." Kaira said. "I'm sorry he didn't sell your horse back." Eliot said. "And what is this deal with Kitty?" Foss asked. "W-- I can't help you with that, Mr. Foss." Eliot said. "See this industry is changing. Yep. Wasted my time with that penny-ante crap. Cheap horses, low rent trainers, okay. Well, you know what I did, though? I called my hedge fund buddies up. And we're gonna form investment portfolios, only with horses and not stocks. Modernize the sport so guys like Bob Gibson won't know what hit them when New York money comes to town. So you do me a favor. Here's how I can help you. You either join the revolution or you get the hell out of my way. See ya." Foss said, leaving, handing Eliot a card.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot left to meet up with Nate, Sophie, and Aimee. "We got problems." Kaira reported. "Great news. Not only is Foss not out of the horse business, he's bringing in more money and more partners." Eliot announced. "Caught that. Working on it." Nate said. "You're working on it? You said that you had a plan." Aimee questioned. "He just said he's working on it." Eliot said. Aimee went to walk away. "Right but you convinced my dad that things were gonna be okay. Things have only gotten worse. Now I-I appreciate you trying to help, but if you don't know what you're doing, just walk away. At least I know you're good at that." Aimee said. Eliot and Aimee rounded the corner arguing. Kaira went to the office to cool off. Then she heard Eliot and Aimee lock lips and make out in the stall. She panicked and turned off her comm for the time being. Kaira got emotional. Here the man she had fallen for was making out with his ex. Kaira never got this emotional about anything Eliot did before. The only thing Kaira could think of as to why was because she was going to take her and Eliot's relationship to the next level. She was now more indecisive than ever. Could she still be with Eliot even if he had feelings for an ex? Kaira stopped herself. She would finish the job and talk with Eliot. Hardison and Parker met up with her and they went into the room Nate and Sophie were in.</p><p>"Same thing as a zebra. They bite and they never let go." Parker argued walking in. They say down. Sophie could tell Kaira was upset and gave her a sympathetic look. "No, no, no, no. Hold up. Wait, wait. What about Mister Ed?" Hardison questioned. "Yeah, a talking animal that nobody else can hear? Pbht! That never ends badly." Parker said. "It didn't turn out badly. Wilbur loved Mister Ed. He loved him like a second cousin twice removed." Hardison said as Kaira could see the light bulb on Nate light up. "That's it. That's it. That's it." Nate realized. "What? A talking horse?" Sophie questioned. Kaira caught on. "No, the Lost Heir scam." Kaira realized. "What's that?" Hardison asked. "Classic European scam. You pose as a long lost descendant of the royal family. And when you pull it off, well, the payoffs are really good -- loads of parties, money, and a fabulous fabergé egg." Sophie explained. "What does that have to do with horses?" Parker asked. "Well, with horses, it's all about the bloodlines." Nate explained. "The lost heir of the royal equine family. Hell that'll be worth millions." Kaira said. "We are gonna sell this guy the greatest horse that ever lived." Nate said. They met up at the track to plan and meet up with Eliot.</p><p>"Go ahead. I know you're itching to say something." Eliot said. Next to him was Sophie and Kaira. "Kaira, why don't you talk with him." Sophie went up ahead. "So..." Kaira said, awkwardly. "So..." Eliot said. "What's the deal with Aimee? Do you like her still?" Kaira asked. "We dated. We broke up because I lost contact with her and she got married. And not anymore. I said I was ready to take the leap with you, Kaira. I meant it." Eliot said. Kaira stopped him. "How the hell can you say that? With what just happened, how can you just toss away someone you loved, Eliot?" Kaira exclaimed, upset. "Because while it was fun, it wasn't the same as if it was you." Eliot blurted out. "What?" Kaira questioned. "It was eight years ago that me and Aimee broke up. I stopped loving her when I met you, Kaira. When I met you, I realized you were everything I could want in a woman." Eliot said. Kaira smacked him. "You better have meant that." Kaira said, sighing. "I'm sorry. I can't make you choose." Kaira went to walk away before Eliot stopped her. "I'm serious, Kaira. I l-" Eliot was about to say before Kaira put her finger on his lips. "Don't you dare use those words unless you mean them, Eliot Spencer. You better think next time you want to say those words." Kaira warned. She walked to the team, who didn't say anything. Hardison was at his computer, Sophie in the seat next to him, Parker next to Nate, Eliot, and Kaira next to him. "We're using Baltimore as the lost heir." Nate said. "I hacked into the IFHA website. That's the database with all the horses' bloodlines. Now, all that information is linked on numbers to microchips in the horse's neck. Now, we'll link Baltimore's microchip number to a fake horse with a great bloodline. Then we'll disguise the white stripe on his face with some paint." Hardison explained before Eliot interrupted. "No. No. It's not gonna work. His lungs are still messed up from the fire." Eliot explained. "He can still run." Nate said, unsure of the problem. "He can, but not as fast. Foss won't bite with a slow horse. And the paint won't hold up once he gets close enough to scan the chip." Kaira explained. "Uh... well, we need to find a horse that can run like a champion." Nate started thinking. "What about that horse from the other day. Uh, Kentucky Fried Chicken?" Hardison questioned. "Kentucky Thunder." Eliot corrected. "That's what I said." Hardison said. "Oh, we steal an actual championship racehorse in order to fake another championship racehorse." Nate said. It was silent for a moment. "Ooh, I like it." Nate said. They went into the plan. Sophie distracted Kentucky Thunders's trainer as Eliot and Kaira sneaked in the stables. Then Sophie and Nate met with some Chinese people to act like they were making a deal. Kaira kept watch with Parker as Eliot met with Foss to give him the bait. Eliot convinced Foss that Kentucky Thunder was a Kennedy. They convinced Foss he bought the horse.</p><p>The next day, Eliot and Kaira went to look at the stable Kentucky Thunder was in. He was gone. "Kentucky Thunder's gone." Eliot said, walking up to the group. "What?" Nate questioned. "Racing?" Sophie asked. "Worse. Stud farm." Aimee said. The team groaned. "Alright. We're not gonna get Foss to write a twelve million dollar check for an empty horse trailer. This doesn't work without Kentucky Thunder. So we're gonna stall." Nate said. "No." Eliot said. "What do you mean, no?" Nate questioned. "Sterling's gonna catch on. Foss is gonna get cold feet man. No. We have a chance. We got to get this horse." Eliot said. Nate then took Eliot aside. "Hey listen, I am not gonna jeopardize the rest of the team because you have something to prove to your high school sweetheart. It's just not gonna happen." Nate about whispered. "Oh, and you're not trying to prove something to Sterling? You're not trying to prove something to the world every time we help somebody out?" Sophie questioned. "We're all trying to prove something just being here with you." Sophie said. Nate sighed. "If it gets too close, I will pull the plug and you and you will walk away. And that will be that." Nate said, looking at Eliot and Sophie. Eliot walked away and went by Aimee. Nate whispered something to Sophie before walking away. Eliot, Parker, Aimee, Hardison, and Kaira left to get Kentucky Thunder back.</p><p>They arrived at the stable he was at. "Can you hack it?" Parker asked. "Hack a lock?" Hardison questioned. "Nice. You still don't really understand what I do, do you?" Hardison said. "Parker, you're gonna have to go in through the air duct, drop down, and let us in." Eliot explained. "But the horses are in there." Parker said. "No, no, no. There's a back room. There won't be any horses in there." Aimee explained. "We need you to do this. I need you to do this. Please." Eliot said. "Parker, I'll go with you. I have the skill set you do." Kaira said, getting out of the car with Parker. Parker and Kaira sneaked in the stable and went in the air duct. They started crawling. "Looks like Parker's gonna have to crawl through the air duct again. God forbid anyone else would have to learn how to freakin' crawl on their stomach through a tiny space. It's not rocket science people." Parker complained. "Parker, you do realize that we can still hear you." Eliot said. Parker stopped a moment. Kaira stopped as Parker was first. "Parker I'm in the vent with you." Kaira said. The ladies continued down the air duct until they reached the end. They dropped down, Parker froze as she stood up. "Aimee. I've found Kentucky Thunder. He's a really, really big horse." Parker said, frozen. Kaira walked over and calmed the horse down. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Uh, yeah, sometimes they keep him in there before he gets teased." Aimee explained. "I don't want to be in a stall with a horse that's about to be teased!" Parker exclaimed. "Parker it's okay I got him calmed down. Come on, pet him. You won't be scared of him." Kaira said, grabbing Parker's hand and leading it to the horse. Parker winced as she touched the horse, but got more comfortable as she kept petting the horse. Kaira left and unlocked the doors for the rest of the team. "See you're not dead. Good." Hardison said to Parker, walking to the horse. "Don't be silly. Horses are much less murderous than I originally thought." Parker said. The group looked at Parker, wondering if she was serious. They grabbed the horse and put him in the trailer.</p><p>They went in the truck and drove away. Sophie was heard on comms turning Foss around to buy them time. She informed Nate. "Okay, Foss is in place. Where are you?" Nate asked. "We're close. Any minute now." Eliot said. They drove a bit before they came across some traffic. "Listen, the hauler's gonna be here in five minutes. If you're not here, Foss is gonna open up an empty trailer and there'll be no lost heir." Nate said. "I said we'll be there!" Eliot exclaimed. Nate sighed. "Hardison, show me what you're looking at." Nate ordered. Hardison pulled out his phone and sent the video feed to Nate. "I'll be damned. We're going to jail." Hardison said. "My father lost his job, he lost his horses, and now he's gonna have to visit me in jail." Aimee said, not happy. "That's great." Aimee said. "We'll be fine. Just got to think." Kaira said. "On the bright side, you'll have all of us to keep you company." Parker said. "Parker not helping." Kaira retorted. "Hey, nobody's going to jail. I promise you. We're gonna make it." Eliot said, unbuckling and exiting. Kaira followed. Eliot and Kaira met at the back. Eliot looked at her. "What? Like hell I'm gonna let you do something stupid without me." Kaira smiled. They opened the door and got on Kentucky Thunder. "All right, all right. We're not gonna make it. I'm pulling the plug. Eliot, bring the horse back to the stud farm, meet us at the rendezvous spot." Nate ordered. Eliot and Kaira got out of the trailer. "Uh, boss, we might have a problem with that." Hardison said. "Why?" Nate asked. Hardison must've shown him the video of Eliot and Kaira leaving on the horse. Kaira just enjoyed the ride. "You okay, princess?" Eliot asked. "I'm fine cowboy." Kaira said. They got close to the racetrack.</p><p>"Now listen, this thing -- it's over. So we're gonna do the blowoff right now because--" Nate said as Eliot and Kaira arrived in front of them. "Pony express is never late, boss." Eliot said. "Didn't I tell you I was gonna kill you?" Nate questioned. Eliot took the horse over to the stable with Kaira. "Okay. We're back on." Nate announced. Kaira and Eliot got the stable set and Sophie got Foss. "Gibson called. He's upset. He really had his eyes on that horse. But I guess the best man won." Sophie said. "Yeah, well, I have a way of -- things have a way of going in my direction. Just lucky, I guess." Foss said as Eliot and Kaira brought over the horse. "I guess." Sophie said. "Mr. Foss, we got something you might want to take a look at." Eliot said. Foss pulled out the chip reader. "Yeah, figured you would. You might as well double-check before my insurance investigator takes a look. You know, you wouldn't want anything to go wrong." Foss said. "Good thinking." Sophie said. Kaira took the reader and scanned the chip. "Thank you." Foss said, grabbing the scanner. "So, ready to make this official?" Sophie said, grabbing the papers from her purse. "Yes, I am." Foss said. "Just sign here and initial here." Sophie said. Foss signed the papers. "Now, there's just that small matter of twelve million dollars." Sophie said. Foss held up his phone and showed Sophie his phone. "Twelve million coming right at you." Foss said. Sophie looked at her phone. "Why, that is a lovely string of zeros. My friends will be very pleased." Sophie said. Eliot and Kaira put the horse in the stable. Eliot and Kaira watched as Foss stumbled with the realization that the horse he insured and bought was Baltimore, not Fey Kui. Earlier Kaira, Eliot, Parker, and Hardison changed the signs around. They also messed with Foss' scanner.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot went back to their place after Eliot and Nate delivered Baltimore back to Willie. Kaira sat in her bed and waited for Eliot to come out of the bathroom. He was wearing a white tank top and plaid pants. "I think we need to talk, Eliot." Kaira said. "Okay." Eliot said, sitting down on the bed next to hers. "Do you still love Aimee?" Kaira asked, bluntly. "Not anymore. I told you the truth. I stopped loving Aimee after I met you." Eliot said. "Does Aimee still care about you?" Kaira asked. "No. Last thing she told me was that she was glad I found a new family. She was just sad it wasn't her. She was also glad I met you." Eliot said. "You're serious?" Kaira questioned. "Yes I'm serious." Eliot said. "So, where does that leave us?" Kaira asked. "Well, you said that I had to think before I used these words. And I have. Kaira, I love you. I've loved you since we met." Eliot said, standing up and going besides Kaira, sitting down. Kaira got emotional. "Damn you Eliot. I love you too." Kaira said. Eliot cupped Kaira's neck and kissed her. He let go. "Kaira, will you be my girlfriend?" Eliot asked. Kaira was silent for a second, processing the words. Eliot got nervous. "Yes, cowboy. I'll be your girlfriend." Kaira smiled. So did Eliot. They kissed again. This time, Eliot pushed Kaira to the bed and kissed her. Kaira enjoyed herself. So did Eliot. They took the leap. Kaira and Eliot stood up. "That was nice." Kaira said, smiling. "Yeah. How about tomorrow I make you breakfast?" Eliot said. Kaira smiled. "That sounds awesome cowboy." Kaira said. "Alright." Eliot said. He stood up and walked to his nightstand. "I have something for you." Eliot said. "What it is?" Kaira asked. Eliot grabbed a box out of the drawer and sat next to Kaira, handing it to her. Kaira opened it. It was a simple silver ring with a heart on top. "Eliot is this an engagement ring?" Kaira asked, chuckling. "Sorry princess but no. This is a promise ring." Eliot said. He grabbed it and grabbed Kairas left hand and placed the ring in front of her ring finger. "I promise that I will always come back to you at the end of the day. No matter what happens, I'm here for you." Eliot said, putting the ring on Kaira's finger. Kaira started tearing up. "It's beautiful. Thank you." Kaira said, hugging Eliot, burying herself in him. Eliot comforted her until she calmed down. Kaira wiped her eyes. "So if we're together now, does that mean I can sleep in your bed?" Kaira asked, smiling. "Yeah." Eliot said, smiling. The new couple went to bed in the same bed. Kaira enjoyed it. Having a warm body to sleep next to make her sleep a lot better than by herself. Eliot discovered that too. This was a huge leap for them. Kaira always knew someday she and Eliot would be together. She just didn't imagine how hard it was to convince herself to be open. She was glad she did.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fun fact: The idea to have Kaira be good at poker, comes from my personal experience, where I was good at poker, even getting the nickname poker face.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Miracle Job (1x4)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When Nate's ex-wife, Maggie, calls Nate and informs him a dear friend, Father Paul, was attacked on his way to the city council to save his church, the team is happy to help. To save the church, the team must fake a miracle, which doesn't sit well with two team members. What surprising information does Nate share? And what does the poet Dante have to do with this?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot woke up in their bed. They just smiled at each other and kissed. Surprisingly, being a couple was natural for them. Kaira flashed back to the night of passion she had with Eliot. The way they just seemed to fit together like a puzzle felt really amazing for Kaira. "You know, last night was definitely the best night I've ever had." Kaira said, smiling. "I'm glad. Just saying, if you want to go round two..." Eliot said before Kaira jokingly hit him and they both laughed. "What!" Eliot exclaimed, chuckling. "You're a bad influence, Eliot Spencer." Kaira joked. "At least it was fun last night." Eliot smiled. "Yes it was. Better than I could've imagined." Kaira smiled at Eliot. "Really? You imagined us in bed together?" Eliot questioned. Kaira got a look on her face. "Maybe." Kaira said a shit-eating grin on her face. "Kaira Newton." Eliot said, sternly. "Okay, yes I have. I mean, how can I not? You're so handsome!" Kaira defended herself. "Oh am I?" Eliot said. "Hell yeah." Kaira said. She sat up and began to position herself on top of Eliot. "I love you, cowboy." Kaira said, inching to Eliot's face. "I love you too, princess." Eliot said. They kissed again. They let go and Kaira laid back beside Eliot. "Kaira Spencer. I like it." Eliot blurred out. "What? Not getting any ideas are you, cowboy?" Kaira smiled. "Of course not." Eliot had a smirk on his face. "Someday cowboy. Let's just see how this goes, then we'll talk." Kaira said with a smile on her face. "Deal." Eliot said. "Deal." Kaira said. They kissed. Kaira let go and got up. "We should probably head to the office. Nate's driving us to Sophie's play." Kaira said. Eliot groaned. "Do we have to go? I mean, I could call and say we have other plans and can't go." Eliot said, not wanting to go. "Eliot, Sophie is our friend. Friends support each other." Kaira argued. "Fine. I'll get changed." Eliot said. They got changed and met up to get lunch before Sophie's play. They had a good time, and went to watch the show. Sophie didn't do that good.</p><p>They met back up at the office the next day and scattered. Eliot ran into the kitchen where Kaira and Hardison grabbed a drink. Kaira took some aspirin for the headache she had from getting drunk with Eliot after the show. "Hey. Sophie's here. Man, what do I tell her?" Eliot asked in a rush. "Anything but the truth." Hardison said. "Hey." Sophie said, coming in the room. "Hey!" Eliot said, chuckling looking for a way out of the situation. "Thank you so much for coming to my play last night." Sophie said, happy. "No problem Sophie." Kaira smiled, also trying to get out of the conversation. "Last night was awesome." Parker said from the adjacent room. Sophie gasped. "Thanks Parker." Sophie said. "Yeah, it was like a horror movie. Attention must be paid!" Parker said, unaware. Kaira gave her a look of death. Sophie turned back around and Kaira looked at Sophie sympathetically. "Oh." Sophie breathed, upset. "Yeah, I mean, you're not the first person I would think of to play Willy Loman, but you - worked it out." Hardison said, hoping to cheer Sophie up, sipping his coffee. "Yeah." Eliot said. "Oh!" Sophie exclaimed, leaving excitedly. "Uh, Sophie do you mind if I give you a tip about stage acting?" Kaira offered. "Sure." Sophie said. They left and went into another room for privacy. "Okay, listen, Sophie, I think you would benefit from learning how to deal with stage fright." Kaira explained. "What?" Sophie questioned. "Next time you perform on stage or on camera, think of something that will trigger your adrenaline. Maybe imagine your selling the crowd a story, cause that's what you're doing, you're selling a story. It's no different than selling a mark a story to get what you want." Kaira explained. "How do you know about acting?" Sophie questioned. "I acted as a kid. I used to listen to music before every performance to keep my heart rate down and jumped up and down to trigger the adrenaline. Combats every instinct your body has to run. Cause stage fright is nothing more than an anxiety attack caused by your body's flight or fight response. You override that with adrenaline, you can do anything." Kaira said. "Thanks Kaira. I'll keep that in mind." Sophie said, walking out. Kaira followed and went back to meet up with Eliot and Hardison. "What did you tell her?" Eliot asked. "Oh, just a basic acting tip. Override stage fright with adrenaline." Kaira said. "I didn't know you knew how to act." Hardison said. "Yeah. Long time ago, but I still got the tricks up my sleeve." Kaira said, exiting to meet with Nate. Nate saw Sophie come in and put his coffee down and started clapping. Kaira walked in. "Mm! How great were you? I mean they got to call it, uh Death of a Saleswoman. What a great commentary on the glass ceiling for corporate women in America." Nate said as the team went to sit down at the table. "Nate, I - I played the part as a man." Sophie stated. Kaira had an "Oh shit" face as she looked away. "Yes. And brilliantly." Nate said, trying to recover. Sophie chuckled, sitting down. "Thanks." Sophie said. "Yeah, I mean you were - huh?" Nate said, looking at the team. Then Nate's phone rang. Sophie chuckled. "Hold on. I have to, uh... Oh. Hi, Maggie?" Nate said, getting up to leave. "Who's Maggie?" Parker asked. "Nate's ex-wife." Sophie said. "Oh shit." Kaira exclaimed, quietly. The team watched as Nate left. "I hope everything's okay." Kaira said, silently praying. The team sat and waited for Nate to call them. He did and told them to meet him at the church, filling them in on what happened to his friend, Father Paul.</p><p>The team drove to the church as Hardison got to work with getting information about the church. They sat down at the pews. "That's St. Nicholas?" Parker asked, looking at the statue ahead of them. "Yeah." Hardison confirmed. "Santa Claus has a church?" Parker questioned. "He's not Santa Claus." Eliot said. Then Nate appeared ahead of the team. "I know this is not our usual kind of case. I reali — but before you say anything, Paul is an old friend of mine, and he has helped the poor parishes -" Nate ranted. "Nate." Sophie tried to stop him. "More than you could ever-." Nate continued before getting cut off again. "Nathan, we're taking the job." Kaira said. "Oh." Nate breathed, surprised. "Yeah." Parker confirmed. "Great. Good. Oh. Alright. Well, uh, this is obviously a strong arm maneuver that's happened here - get rid of the activist priest and the sale closes on Monday. Do we know anything about who bought the church?" Nate said, surprised still. "The sign outside said it was sold to Cannity Corp. Now, Cannity Corp is a wholly owned subsidiary of STB International, which is the parent company of Akai Diversified, which is the U.S. subsidiary of Cannity Corp." Hardison explained, holding up each companies sign. "That is a lot of trouble to go to for buying an old church." Sophie said. "Yeah so, Cannity Corp - that's obviously the front. Parker check all of the addresses for the reality companies. Eliot, Hardison, Kaira - find the local talent that attacked Paul. Um, he messed up one of their shoulders, if that helps. So..." Nate ordered as Parker left. "Mnm-mnh, mnh-mnh. I don't do gangs." Hardison objected. Kaira all but had to push Hardison out the door. "Get you out in some fresh air. Get off the computer." Eliot said, leaving. "I rappel. Did no one see me rappel?" Hardison questioned. "Just move your ass before I end up knocking you on your ass, Hardison." Kaira warned. Hardison started walking.</p><p>Eliot drove them to a local tunnel and started walking. "You think that we're just gonna walk into some random tunnel and find some cholos just all yoked up?" Hardison complained. "Yeah because they're right behind us, so shut the hell up." Kaira warned, whispering. "You know?" Hardison continued. "Hardison-" Eliot warned. "Yo, homes, let me fix-" Hardison continued. "Hardison shut up!" Kaira exclaimed quietly. Kaira turned around and so did Eliot and Hardison. "Boys. We don't want any trouble. Alright? We just want some answers." Eliot said, trying to be civil. "How's this answer?" Thug number one said, revealing a gun. "Really? Eliot, you know what to do." Kaira said. Eliot grabbed the gun still in the dude's pants and cocked it. "Gentlemen, we just want to know which one of your colleagues rolled a priest." Kaira said, showing she was the boss at the moment. Thug two pulled out a gun and pointed it at Eliot. "Hey man, why don't you shut your bitch up and leave." Thug two said. Eliot gave him a deadly look. "That was your first mistake. See my boyfriend's really protective. You give us want we want, and I'll make sure you don't get the shit knocked out of you." Kaira warned. The guys weren't giving any answers. "You seeing this, Hardison?" Eliot asked, not breaking eye contact with thug two. "The situation has my attention, yes." Hardison said, worried. Kaira made her way over to thug two. "You see, that's why I don't like guns. They have a specific range of efficacy. See most guys make one mistake. You know what it is, princess?" Eliot said, smiling. "They get too close." Kaira said, smirking. Eliot disarmed thug two by headbutting him, ejected the magazine, threw the gun to the side and recocked the gun on thug one. "Answer the lady's question. Who rolled... a priest?" Eliot repeated, threatening glare on the thugs. Thug three shrugged his shoulders. Hardison looked at him. "We didn't beat up no priest. We're not monsters." Thug three said. Hardison popped him in the shoulder. The thug went down. "Dislocated shoulder's a bitch." Hardison said. "Fun fact. The priest who was beaten up says he popped his attacker in the shoulder." Kaira said. The other two thugs looked at the thug on the ground. "You beat up a priest?" Thug one questioned. "Do you mind?" Thug one asked Eliot. "Be my guest." Eliot said, handing the weapon back to the thug. The thug pointed the gun at the downed thug. "You got a long penance ahead of you. Start by answering their questions." Thug one told thug three. "Now!" He yelled. "Who hired you?" Eliot asked. "I don't know. I got a call on my cell with an offer, and I called him back after the job was done. He paid me. That's all I know. I swear." Thug three claimed. "You got a number?" Hardison asked. The downed thug handed him a slip of paper. "Can you do something with that?" Kaira asked. "Seven digits. I can find you on Mars." Hardison said. "Gentlemen, we will leave you to your internal affairs. Thank you." Kaira said, walking away with Hardison and Eliot. "How 'bout that? Man, you - you see me?" Hardison exclaimed, jumping up and down. "He was injured." Eliot said. "Well, somebody got to fight the injured. Shoot, that's my niche." Hardison said. Kaira just chuckled.</p><p>They went back to the office and Hardison ran a trace on the number. The team came in for the briefing. Eliot and Kaira were basically on each other, sitting on the couch. "When I ran a backtrace on the gangbanger's call, it routed through this dude's number from a payphone." Hardison said. "So we got nothing." Eliot said. "Hang on, cowboy. Hardison, where is the payphone?" Kaira asked. "The residences at eighth. Luxury condos brought to you by Andrew Grant." Hardison explained. "Yeah, I know this guy. He built the Meadow Mall on the west side - you know the one with the monorail." Sophie said. "Now, this guy doesn't happen to own any of the shell companies that brought the church, does he?" Nate questioned. "Well, I-I can't prove that, but - let's just put it this way - those shell companies have their daddy's lyin' eyes." Hardison said. "All right, what do we know about this Grant guy?" Eliot asked. "Well the man's a media whore. He went through like nine publicists last year alone. He's, uh, cutting the ribbon on this place tomorrow. Also, Grant survived a helicopter crash last year. Checked out his pharmacy account. The man pops anti-anxiety pills like pez." Hardison explained. Nate stood up and went to the screens. "Well... publicists are like priests. You got to tell them all your secrets." Nate said. "And I bet Grant has a bunch of 'em if he had a priest beaten up." Kaira said. "So that's our way in. The question is, how?" Nate explained. "What are you thinking?" Sophie asked. "If this guy beat up a priest... we're not going easy on him." Nate said. "Of course. Like the Boondock Saints." Kaira smiled. Some of the team didn't get it. "Seriously, you've never heard of Boondock Saints?" Kaira questioned. The team members who didn't shook their heads no. "Alright, movie night, we're watching <em>The Boondock Saints</em>." Kaira said, shocked. It was silent for a moment. "Okay are you guys gonna ignore the fact that when we met the gang people, Kaira called Eliot her boyfriend?" Hardison questioned. Kaira got wide eyes as Eliot stumbled. "Wait, are you two dating?" Nate asked. Kaira and Eliot looked at each other, confirming their new relationship. "Since when?" Hardison questioned. "Since the horse job." Kaira said, embarrassed a bit. "Wow." Hardison said, backing off. "There's nothing wrong with it." Eliot said. "Finally. I was wondering if you two would get together." Sophie said. "What makes you say that?" Kaira asked. "You two were all lovey-dovey when we met. I figured it was only a matter of time." Sophie said. "Okay. I'm glad you two figured things out, but we need to plan how to get Grant." Nate said, bringing everyone back together. They made a plan and left.</p><p>They went to the under-construction building Grant was at. Kaira, Eliot, Hardison, and Parker were construction workers. Nate was on lookout, and Sophie was a reporter who was to be set up as Grant's new publicist. Sophie talked to Grant, getting him to move towards Eliot. "Willy Wonka's here." Sophie reported. "Good. His ride's almost here." Eliot said, moving a wheelbarrow next to Hardison, who looked like he was rigging electricity. "Okay... showtime." Eliot said. Parker and Kaira lifted up a piece of wood and knocked into Grant, pretending it was an accident. Parker and Kaira apologized profusely and Parker switched out his medicine with another bottle. "I'm sorry, I had too much tequila last night with my boyfriend." Kaira said as her excuse. He called Kaira baby, which raised an alarm with Eliot. Kaira could sense it. Then Eliot rammed into Grant's assistant, Tomas, with the wheelbarrow, throwing him to the side. "I'm sorry, man. I apologize about that." Eliot said. "What the hell are you doing?" Tomas questioned Eliot. "I had a lot of tequila last night with my girl. I'm sorry." Eliot said. "Watch your focus, Cuervo. All right?" Tomas said, upset. Eliot apologized, wiping the dirt off Tomas's suit. Eliot finished with Tomas and Hardison got to work with the elevator. "What is that you just took?" Sophie asked Grant. "Xanax. For my nerves." Grant said. "Actually caffeine. With a dash of dextroamphetamine." Parker said. "You gave him speed?" Eliot questioned, coming alongside the group. "He beat up a priest." Hardison said, defending Parker. "Fair point." Kaira said. Sophie let him cook for a while before helping him get out of the elevator without embarrassing himself and gave her the interview. "Wait how did you come up with the tequila excuse? We didn't discuss that." Parker mentioned. "Because Eliot and I had a lot of tequila last night. Margaritas." Kaira said. "Anything else happen?" Hardison questioned. "Maybe." Kaira said, with a smirk on her face looking at Eliot. "Well, what?" Hardison questioned. "Let's just say the evidence is under the bed." Eliot said with a smirk on his face. "Ah hell nah. Why did you say that, man?" Hardison asked, disgusted. "You asked, Hardison." Kaira said.</p><p>They met back at the office after Sophie got her interview, where Grant hired her as his publicist. "He's building another mall on the site of the church." Parker said. "It's not even a mall. It's a bloody lifestyle center. Eat, work, shop, play all in one place." Sophie said. "I don't like this guy. I hate him." Eliot said. "Please don't kill him, Eliot." Kaira said. Eliot scoffed at her. "He doesn't want the closing of the church connected to him. I'll bet he got the city council in his pocket and the got the land for a song. Once this deal closes, he's free and clear. By the time they break ground on this mall, he'll be untouchable." Hardison said. "That explains why he knew Father Paul was heading to the city council. Assholes probably warned him." Kaira said. "Forget St. Nick. We'd be better off with the patron saint of lost causes." Sophie groaned. "No, no, no. He trusts you. You can hook him." Nate said. "Yeah, I know I can, Nate, but there's no time. I mean, we need a long con for this job. Right? In three days he owns that church." Sophie pointed out. "We need to do something that'll delay construction on the mall so Sophie can pull him in for the long con." Kaira said. "You really think he's gonna fall for that?" Eliot questioned. "This guy? I got to be honest with you - we're gonna need a miracle to save this church." Eliot said. Kaira could tell Nate had an idea. "So let's, uh, go steal ourselves a miracle." Nate said. "Oh jeez, Nathan. Of course. Let's fake a miracle." Kaira retorted. The team looked at her weirdly and followed Nate. "The catholic church defines a miracle as the work of God, usually through the prayers and intercessions of a saint, for some specific purpose, frequently the conversion of the unbelieving." Nate explained. "How do you know all this stuff?" Eliot asked. "I went to school with Father Paul. To uh... seminary school." Nate explained. Kaira got wide eyed. "So you dropped out of priest school to become a - insurance cop? And now you're the leader of a band of thieves. Nice." Eliot chuckled at the thought. "You're a catholic who wants to fake a miracle. I'm pretty sure that puts us in mortal-sin territory." Hardison said, uncomfortable with the idea. "So now you're religious too?" Eliot questioned. "No, I'm not denominational. It's just, I never do anything my nana said don't do. This, what we doin' it - it just don't seen right." Hardison said. "What doesn't seem right? Let me get this straight. We're trying to save a church, right? So, faking a miracle, to me, seems like the quickest way to do that." Nate argued. "Even Andrew Grant's not gonna build a mall on a holy site." Sophie said. "No, he'll just build around it." Kaira retorted. "Right, so we need three things. We need a miracle, we need publicity, and we need to keep Father Paul out of the way. He can't be involved in this at all." Nate said. "Reporters follow Grant around in packs. Let's - let's use him as bait." Sophie suggested. "Use his own publicity to wreck his project." Parker said. "I like it." Kaira said. Nate stood up. "Okay, Parker, we need you to go to the hospital and keep Father Paul there no matter what - up to a point. But keep him in the hospital. Eliot, Kaira, you're the retrieval specialists. Give Hardison anything he needs." Nate ordered. "As long as I don't have to do anything immoral." Hardison said. "Ah, absolutely not. No. I just need you to figure out, you know, how to fake a miracle." Nate said. "We all going to Hell." Hardison said. "Not like we're heading there anyway." Kaira retorted. "So now are you religious too?" Eliot questioned. "No. Well, I do believe in Murphy's Law and Karma. I also believe in Dante's version of what Hell looks like." Kaira explained straight-faced. "What? Woman, you're just making stuff up now." Hardison said. "No. Murphy's Law states that if you do something to prepare for an outcome, the outcome won't happen. Karma is well, karma. And Dante's Inferno was from a story the poet Dante made about a character's journey through the nine circles of Hell. Each circle representing different sins of people and their punishments. Probably shouldn't read it, Hardison." Kaira explained. The team looked at her weird. "I read it in high school for an assignment." Kaira explained, defending herself. "You're weird." Eliot said. "You're the one dating me." Kaira smiled. Eliot did too. The team was off to get ready.</p><p>Sophie leaked something to the press and went to Grants to fix it and convince him to make the announcement at the church. Hardison went to build a fake statue to fake a miracle. Eliot, Nate, and Kaira looked at Hardison's work. "Behold! I have made the statues multiply." Hardison said. Ahead of him were multiple statues and plastic sheets everywhere. "Well, I got to say, it looks pretty good, Hardison. I mean - yeah. It's, uh..." Nate was saying as he pushed a statue. "Polystyrene?" Nate questioned. Eliot pushed it as well. "Amongst other things. Don't eat it. Or breathe near it." Hardison said. They all backed up. "Show us the miracle, Hardison." Kaira ordered. Hardison got his remote ready. "Test subject number one." Hardison said. He clicked his remote and fake blood came out from the ears. "Yeah, no, yeah, I said bleeding tears, not - not bleeding ears." Nate said, unamused. "Look, look, look, man. You're lucky on this deadline I didn't give you a baking soda volcano." Hardison said. "This - this is - okay, what else you got?" Nate asked. "Looks ridiculous." Eliot retorted. Hardison then pulled out a paintball gun and shook his head yes. Kaira shook her head no. "Stigmata paintball gun." Hardison said. "Wha-no, no, no, no. No." Nate said, unamused. "Yeah. Now - how does that work?" Eliot asked. "I've been practicing. Check me out." Hardison said. He put the barrel of the gun on his arm as a rest and shot. The paintball hit the glass ahead of them just as Parker walked by. Nate and Kaira had disappointed faces. Parker kept walking. "Okay, Hardison, could you just make the statue cry without melting St. Nick's head?" Nate questioned. "Don't melt Santa!" Parker said, pointing a finger at them. "He's not Santa!" Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira all exclaimed. "What are you, ten feet from there? How can you miss that?" Eliot questioned. Kaira knew where this was going. "Everybody can't be Eliot." Hardison argued. "Unbelievable." Eliot said. Kaira grabbed the gun and fired two paintballs on the farthest statue. The boy's jaws were open. "That's how you do it." Kaira said, walking away. "Damn, princess. I got to be careful not to make you angry." Eliot said, nervous. "Yeah. You should." Kaira turned back around. Later on, Kaira overheard a conversation between Nate and Sophie. Basically, Nate admitted that he felt guilty about his son Sam's death and for being tempted to cheat on his ex-wife with Sophie, which is what made it fun between them. Kaira left wishing she hadn't heard the conversation.</p><p>The next day, Kaira blended in with the reporters and crowd as Grant made his announcement. "A lifestyle center to revitalize the life of this neighborhood. A pulsing heart of opportunity and commerce in the center of the community." Grant said before a redhead upbeat lady ran out. "Everybody, come quick! You have to see this! It's a miracle!" She said. Everyone went in and side conversations happened at the bleeding eyed statue. Kaira went out the side to meet with the gang. "Not too bad." Parker complimented. Kaira and Eliot walked hand and hand. "It was nothing, really. Just some basic chemistry. An oil polymer that reacts with a secondary chemical in the candles. No candle smoke, absolutely no evidence. Light a candle." Hardison explained the science behind the statue. "Nice." Kaira complimented. "Local news will pick up the event, Grant will crawl back into his hole for a while, and, well at least for the time being, it will stay open to the public." Nate said. Kaira was concerned about the number of people there. Nate noticed too. "Is it just me, or are there way too many people here?" Kaira questioned, worried. "I'm very good." Hardison said. "Yeah. Maybe too good. Damn." Kaira said. Sophie joined them. "What did we just do?" Sophie questioned. "We faked a miracle and now I'm pretty sure we're all going to the eighth circle of Hell." Kaira whispered. "What's the eighth circle?" Hardison asked. "It's for thieves and liars. You get tortured by demons." Kaira explained. "What's the ninth circle?" Hardison asked. "It's for people who betrayed others. There are four levels. Each level is deeper into ice, depending on who you screw over. There's kin, country, religion, and community. It's where the worst of the worse are. You get holed up with Lucifer himself." Kaira explained. The team looked at her worried and watched the crowd. They went back in to check the crowd inside and walked back out. "The weeping statue of St. Nick is on YouTube." Hardison said. "Good. This church will never shut down." Eliot said, hand in hand with Kaira. "There's just so many people here. I mean, what if they find out it's a... fake?" Sophie said, quietly. "Hellfire, Damnation, et cetera. You know what? I'm gonna step over here, so when the good Lord throws down on all of y'all, I don't get hit by the lightning." Hardison said, moving away from the group. Kaira groaned. "Hardison, that's the Greek God, Zeus. If it was God, he would've sent an angel, probably with a trench coat, to do the dirty work." Kaira explained. The team looked at her. "Guy, guys, this is still a big win. Sophie, uh, find out where Grant is, and make sure he's -" Nate was saying before Father Paul went in front of him. "What did you do?" Father Paul asked. Nate took him aside. "Uh, what - what do you mean?" Nate questioned, acting innocent. They went in the church. The rest stayed outside. The gang was on crowd control and Nate and Sophie dealt the final blow. Or so they thought.</p><p>The next day, Sophie told the team. "Bibletopia?" Hardison questioned. "The man cannot be stopped!" Sophie exclaimed, worried. "It's like everything we throw at him makes him stronger." Parker said. "Kind of admire him, though. My nephew would like Bibletopia." Eliot said. Kaira looked at him. "We've know each other for four years now, and you just now told me you have a nephew?" Kaira said. "Oh, no, see? This is what happens when you mess with God. He raises up your enemies with his right hand, and he smites you with his left." Hardison said. "No, no, no, we can use this. Just give me a second to - I just need -" Nate was saying before a couple of vans pulled up and people got out in black dress. "Apostolic Visitation." Nate said. "Come again?" Hardison asked. "It's the Vatican." Nate explained. "Shit. We're definitely going to Hell now." Kaira said, not happy. The team went inside and blended in as Nate explained what Apostolic visitation was. Nate and Sophie dealt with Grant and Paul. Hardison and Kaira saw Tomas go to confession. They hid until the last of the Vatican people left, they exited the closet they were in. "As soon as that van full of Vatican CSI equipment gets here, we're screwed." Hardison said. "That's what I was trying to say, but you guys wouldn't let me talk while we were all in the closet!" Parker said, getting quiet at the end of her sentence. "If we leave it here, they're gonna find out the statue isn't really crying and blame Father Paul for fraud." Sophie said. "Sophie, if we steal the statue, he's gonna get blamed for covering up a fraud." Eliot said. Kaira thought a moment. Nate started laughing. "This ain't funny. As soon as they run a scanner or a pH stick over that statue, they're going to see those aren't real tears." Hardison explained. "You're right. It's only a matter of time. You know, Father Paul - he can't help but to tell the truth. He's gonna flip on us." Nate said. "I hope this is the part where you suggest prayer." Hardison said. "No, the Weeping Statue of St. Nicholas is not gonna be stolen. It's gonna miraculously disappear in the middle of tomorrow's mass." Nate said. "I'm sorry?" Sophie questioned how serious Nate was. "In front of the priest, the Vatican, the entire congregation." Nate whispered. "Have you learnt nothing, Nate?" Sophie asked. "How much does the statue weigh?" Nate asked. "About 900 pounds." Hardison answered. "Good." Nate said before walking away. "I am so sorry, nana." Hardison said, looking up. "I think I know what Nate's plan is. We switch out the real statue with the fake statue and someone will simply take it during the mass. We put the fake statue in a van registered to Grant. Tomas, Grant's assistant, will hopefully confess to the public and in front of news stations that Grant is a bastard son of a bitch and that he sent thugs to beat up Paul and bribed the council to get the land." Kaira explained. The gang went along with the plan.</p><p>As Nate and Sophie watched the mass, Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira got Parker to grab the statue. They went inside once the statue was hidden and Paul ran outside. "There is no miracle. Somebody stole the statue! And I know who it is!" Paul exclaimed, opening the back of the van. Hardison came out the passenger side with the registration. "Andrew Grant." Hardison revealed. "Hey, he's the guy who bought the church!" Eliot exclaimed. The crowd started talking. "That's not my van!" Grant exclaimed. "What kind of monster fakes a miracle for a profit? You sicken me." Hardison said, getting the crowd wound up. "You're gonna burn in Hell for that, Grant!" Kaira yelled. Someone yelled that Grant was a thief. "That priest is desperate. He hid the statue in the van. He forged the registration papers to frame me!" Grant exclaimed, defending himself. "We don't believe ya!" Eliot yelled. "Look, look, look. Right here, see? My assistant - he was with me the whole time." Grant said, bringing out Tomas. Tomas had his head down. "Okay? Now, look. We bought this property - We're gonna fix up the neighborhood. Right?" Grant said, hoping Tomas would corroborate the story. "No." Tomas said. "No?" Grant questioned. "No! He got the land under this church the same way he got the rest of the neighborhood, the same way he gets all of his properties - by bribery, intimidation, and violence! Andrew Grant... sent a bunch of thugs to beat up Father Paul!" Tomas exclaimed, becoming more confident. Kaira was kinda proud. Then the cops came and put the cuffs on Grant. "Cops got here fast." Parker noticed. "It's almost as if an investigative journalist called in a tip." Kaira said in her comm. "Kristi, save me, huh? You can spin this, right? Instead of, uh, felony, maybe soften it to, um, controversy or something." Grant said as Sophie came down the stairs. "You know, when you say controversy, I always hear attention." Sophie said. Grant realized he had been played.</p><p>After everyone left, Kaira waited for Nate and Paul to be done talking and she went up to him. "Excuse me, Father Paul?" Kaira said, getting his attention. "You're one of Nate's friends." Father Paul realized. "Yeah. Can we go to confession?" Kaira asked. "Of course." Father Paul said. They went in the confessional booth. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure how this works." Kaira said, nervous. "It's okay. I'll guide you through it. Bless me father for I have sinned. This is my first confession. Repeat that." Father Paul said. "Okay. Bless me father for I have sinned. This is my first confession." Kaira said. "I have committed a string of selfish and hurtful acts father." Father Paul said. "I have committed a string of selfish and hurtful acts father." Kaira said. "What would you like to confess?" Father Paul asked. "Um, I mostly have questions. See, Father Paul, I am not a religious person really. I've hurt people for my country and my own greed. If I help people, am I forgiven?" Kaira said, nervous. "Yes. God does forgive. He may judge you on what you did, but when he sees the good you do, he'll grant you a pass into Paradise." Father Paul said. "Are you sure Father Paul? I mean, I steal from bad people and give it to the people who are hurt by the bad guys. Am I still forgiven?" Kaira asked. "Yeah. I'm sure. You know, Nate had it hard for a while. Lost his kid, his wife, his job. He started drinking and I haven't seen him since his son's funeral. He seems better. Thanks for keeping him safe." Father Paul said. "Actually it was more like Nate helped me. I mean, when we did our first job it was this airplane designer who hired us to steal his designs from his rival. Turns out, the designs weren't his, they were his rivals. Then the bastard tried to kill us. I may be a thief, Father Paul, but I have a set of rules I play by. Never kill anyone unless it's me or them, never take a job that has me hurting a kid, and don't use anyone's kid against them whether their dead or alive. The guy who hired us used Nate's son to get him to do the job. I wanted to kill the guy. But instead, Nate pulled me back and we put him in jail instead. Then it became this rush, stealing from bad guys. We helped a Corporal in the Army get money for his rehab by stealing money from the defense contractor that refused to pay for his treatment and who shot him up. It felt good, seeing the smiles of everyone at the rehab center. Is it bad I feel good about helping someone, even though I steal from the bad guys?" Kaira said. "No. Because in your eyes, the good intentions canceled out the bad thing you did." Father Paul said. "Thank you, Father Paul. I just have one more question." Kaira said. "What is it?" Father Paul asked. "Am I forgiven?" Kaira asked. "Yes." Father Paul said. Kaira composed herself. "Thank you." Kaira said. "You're welcome." Father Paul said. They exited the booth. "You know, I never believed in miracles until today. I mean, six thieves saved my church." Father Paul said, walking with Kaira. "Guess that means you're blessed." Kaira smiled. They hugged and Kaira thanked him again. She composed herself again and walked over to the gang in the pews as Nate lit a candle for his son. "You okay, Kaira?" Eliot asked. "You're here, aren't you?" Kaira said, smiling. "Always." Eliot said, smiling. After Nate was done, the gang walked over to the real statue in its rightful place. "Looked at that. Saved a church." Hardison said. "It's like Christmas. See? I told you St. Nicholas is Santa Claus." Parker said. "No, he's not Parker." Sophie said. "Well, who is he, then?" Parker asked. "St. Nicholas is the patron saint of thieves." Kaira said. "How do you know that?" Nate asked. "I read a lot about various subjects when I became a thief. Figured they might come in handy." Kaira said, smiling. The team left. Kaira looked up. "Thanks for the extra protection, St. Nicholas." Kaira whispered. The team left and went home for the night and waited for the next job.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N if I made any mistakes when it comes to the beliefs of Catholicism, or how the confession booth works, please let me know by commenting so I can fix it. Thank you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Bank Shot Job (1x5)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This time, the team head to San Juan, New Mexico to take down a corrupt judge who was making deals to set bad people free. When doing the rip-off, two team members find themselves in the middle of a bank robbery. Now, it's up to the team to act as the police and make sure they get everyone out okay.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot loaded up some things in the truck. Nate went and did the deal with their mark, Judge Roy. A real bastard, and as Kaira quoted at the briefing, "A bastard son of a bitch." He made deals with various people to get bad people back on the street and apparently liked to hit young ladies' asses without their consent. They spent two weeks in San Juan, New Mexico setting up Roy to rip him off for a rip deal con. Hardison and Parker were arguing about the heat and the location. "Hardison, stop your bitching. As soon as Nate rips Roy off, you can go back home in the A/C and your internet connection." Kaira said, loading things up in the truck with Eliot. "Excuse you, you may like this type of environment, but I, a city boy, don't." Hardison whined again. "Just shut up about it." Eliot said. Hardison was silent for the moment. "How we coming on the breakdown?" Hardison asked. "Fake addresses are shut down. The post office boxes are closed. The phones are cleared. Five more minutes, we never existed." Eliot reported. "Want me to call the Delgado family, tell them the news?" Hardison question. "Not yet. Eliot and I want to call them ourselves as soon as we clear county lines." Kaira said. Eliot got in the drivers seat of the white truck and Kaira got in the passenger seat. "I just wish we could do more than bankrupt that corrupt son of a bitch." Eliot said, putting the truck in gear and driving away. It was quiet for the moment. Eliot and Kaira drove for a bit. "We got to get out of here." Nate said in a hard southern accent. "What's he waiting for?" Hardison asked. Eliot stopped the truck. Kaira was worried. Then through Nate and Sophie's comm, there were two voices, one saying it was a robbery that was happening. "Dammit, Nathan." Kaira said, upset. "You've got to be kidding me." Parker said. "Oh, hell, no." Hardison exclaimed. "I knew this went to smooth!" Eliot exclaimed. "Shit!" Kaira exclaimed . "Get out now." Nate whispered into the comm. "Is he talking to us?" Hardison questioned. "An unmarked van parked across the street from a bank that's being robbed? Yeah, I think he's talking to us." Parker said. Eliot sped to try and get to the bank. "Another five more feet, and he would've been in the clear. What the hell was he thinking?" Hardison asked. "Don't be an idiot, Hardison!" Parker exclaimed. "What?" Hardison questioned. "Sophie was still in there." Parker said. "Awe Nathan, what the hell?" Kaira exclaimed, not happy. Sirens could be heard through Parker and Hardison's comm. "Not a bad response time. Somebody must have tripped the silent alarm." Parker pointed out. "This is so not good." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira pushed through the crowd of people to get a look at the bank. The police officer controlling the crowd tried to get them to leave. "Tell me what's going on in there." Eliot said. "I'm afraid I can't do that. This is an active crime scene, and you need to-." The police officer said before Kaira interrupted. "Sorry, officer. We're private security for a very important businessman in the bank. Our job is making sure he's okay. We were told to wait outside because our presence would spook the man he was making a deal with. Now let us do our job." Kaira explained, shooting him a look. "How many are there?" Eliot asked. "Yeah, you're right. Clearly amateurs, these two, uh-huh. Yeah, the younger guy looks like he's never handled a gun before." Nate said in cover. "I'm assuming that corrupt bastard son of a bitch is next to you?" Kaira questioned. "Yeah, uh-huh, yeah, definitely amateurs. That's what makes them so dangerous." Nate said. "All right, two guys, both armed, neither one a criminal mastermind. Want us in there?" Eliot said. "Sir, ma'am, we can't have you going inside the bank. This is a volatile situation." The cop said. "Just let us do our jobs." Kaira said. "Probably a good idea just to sit tight, don't you think, you know, see where these guys' heads are at, you know?" Nate gave the order. "All right, your call, boss." Eliot said, leaving with Kaira in tow. "How you doing?" Nate asked Sophie through the comm. She also heard Roy talking to one of the robbers. "I'm just peachy. How about you?" Sophie said. "Something weird is going on in here." Nate observed. "Hmm. You noticed that too, huh?" Sophie said. "Hear what that guy said? They didn't have enough. They need more cash, and it's not to pay rent." Nate said. "I don't care what it's for. Let's just focus on getting out of here." Sophie said. "We help these guys get what they want, then we can get everybody out of here safely without anyone getting hurt. I mean, I don't know about you, but I am not gonna leave my fate in the hands of the Juan volunteer S.W.A.T team." Nate said. "Okay. So what's the plan, Stan?" Sophie asked. There was more arguing off comms between the robber and Roy. "We cannot allow the local Leos to handle the situation. We have to get in charge of it. We have to be the police." Nate said. He said something to Roy. Kaira immediately got what Nate was saying. "Got it, Nathan." Kaira confirmed. "Parker, Hardison, grab three FBI jackets. Meet us at the building diagonal from the bank." Kaira said.</p><p>A short while later, a black car pulled in. It was Parker and Hardison who was in FBI gear. Kaira put on her shades and the jacket. And changed quickly into her FBI persona. "Nice ride." Eliot said, handing Parker a folder. "It's embarrassing. Everyone knows you don't job a bank without an exit strategy. These two deserve to get caught." Parker said, handing FBI badges to Hardison and Kaira. "42 seconds." Parker said. "What?" Hardison questioned. "To rob this bank. One security guy who's never fired his gun before, two closed-circuit cameras outside, one inside, and a Glenn-Reeder safe built in the '50's whose default combination is the birth date of the manager's wife. Get in, get out, 42 seconds." Parker explained. Kaira stopped her. "Parker, don't be so harsh. We don't know why they robbed the bank. I mean, it obviously was a rush job, which could mean they're in trouble." Kaira said, getting a realization. "Shit I think I know why they're robbing the bank. They're in trouble with someone who probably asked for money and they were forced to rob the bank to get the amount needed. Why else would they say they didn't have enough cash?" Kaira said. Parker and Hardison were impressed. "Nice going, princess." Eliot complimented. The trio continued walking underneath the caution tape. "I'm Agent Leonard. This is Agent Elmore." Hardison said, introducing them to the sheriff. "And I'm Special Agent Child. We'll be taking over this scene. Sheriff...?" Kaira shook his hand. "Bill Hastings. Nice to meet you." He said. "You guys sure are quick. Just called this in 20 minutes ago." Bill said. "We were nearby. Drug sting." Kaira explained. "So, what do you got, Sheriff?" Parker asked. "Well, we can't get a good look inside, so we don't know how many gunmen there are or how many hostages they have or what they want." Bill informed them. "Huh. What about your tactical insertion team?" Parker questioned. "We don't have a S.W.A.T team per se, but, uh, old Virgil up there, he's one hell of a crack shot." Bill said, pointing to where Virgil was. "That's not gonna work." Kaira said. She walked away to think. "Sophie, Nathan, we have to separate these guys and get answers." Kaira whispered. "Agent Leonard, can you get some surveillance in here?" Kaira ordered to Hardison.</p><p>Sophie got the dad to the vault to talk with him. "What would help - uh, you listening? - What would help is if we got some kind of background on these people, you know, so we could know how to sort of deal with them right here, right now." Nate said, still in cover. "Already on it, boss." Kaira whispered into the comm. "I've hacked into the bank's security system. I've got a good look at your gunmen. I'm running him through my facial recognition database. Tapped into NSA, FBI, and if these guys have records, we should get something pretty quick." Hardison said. Kaira stood by as Parker talked to the Sheriff. Hardison's laptop beeped fast. "Oh, that was fast. These guys must have warrants. Check that - the older guy is U.S military. Derrick Clark - served as an officer in the Navy for 20 years. Retired last spring." Hardison said. "Well, it doesn't make sen - Uh, doesn't make sense. You know, why would a guy like that rob a bank?" Nate asked. "I'm accessing his financials. Looks like Derrick cleared all his accounts this morning, even visited a bunch of ATMs around town, hitting the daily withdrawal limit on all his credit cards." Hardison informed Nate. "Yeah, but who takes all their money out of a bank, and then comes back later only to rob it?" Nate asked. "Someone who is desperate for money to pay someone off, I'm telling you" Kaira said. She sent the address to Eliot to investigate. "You say something?" Roy asked. "I - what? Oh, no, I was just - I was just - I was thinking about, you know, if the cops were smart about this, they would I.D these guys... kind of figure out who they are and maybe get to their family members." Nate said, not breaking cover. "Two steps ahead of you. Kaira just texted me the address. I'm on my way there right now." Eliot said, driving. All of a sudden, the power went out. "Whoa, what's going on?" Hardison asked Bill. "Cut power to the bank. Standard operating procedure." Bill explained. Kaira rolled her eyes. "Standard - it's standard op - it's standard? Where you getting that bull hockey from, son?" Hardison questioned. "Deputy Arnold - he took a seminar in crisis management last year." Bill explained. "It was an online seminar. We got certificates." Deputy Arnold said. "Certificates? Magic kits come with certificates. Does that make it cool for kids to saw their parents in half?" Hardison questioned. "We're just going by the book." Bill said. Hardison pretended to get offended. "The - the book? The book got a good man killed. I can't — my blood pressure." Hardison started acting all upset. "Agent Elmore, just take Agent Leonard to cool off. Meanwhile, get your guys to turn the power on before everyone in the bank passes out from heatstroke." Kaira ordered. Kaira watched everyone work.</p><p>"Why are you doing this?" Sophie asked, presumably to Derrick. "Don't have a choice. We need the money." Derrick said. "For what? Your son in some kind of trouble? He is your son, right?" Sophie asked. "That's none of your damn business." Derrick said, defensive. "Well, seeing as you have a gun pointed at me, I kind of feel like it is." Sophie said. "You don't know the combination, do you? Are you even the branch manager?" Derrick questioned. "Um... not exactly. Okay, Derrick, listen up. It's like this. I just want to help you - you and your son." Sophie explained. "How do you know my name?" Derrick asked. "I know a lot of things. I know you don't want to hurt anyone, and I know you wouldn't be doing this if you didn't have to. So just - just try and help me understand. What's the money for?" Sophie said, calming Derrick down. "The house has been broken into. Someone was here when it happened. His name's Michael. Found his report card on the floor." Eliot reported. Kaira still kept watch. "W-w-w- what are you doing? Get back on the ground." Michael said. "It's not too late, Michael. That's right. You can still save her. Do you know who took her?" Nate asked. "It's all my fault." Michael said, stammering. "T - they think I did it. They left a note, said that they wanted one hundred grand by five o'clock... or they'd kill her." Michael explained. "Nate, get him to tell you who she is." Kaira said. "Well, we're not gonna let that happen. Okay? But you have to trust me, and you have to do exactly what I say. And I promise you, we will get your mom back." Nate said. "They had me doing little things at first - you know, errands, stuff like that. And then a few months back, I started running for them." Michael explained. "Mm-hmm. Drugs?" Nate questioned. "Meth mostly. I mean, I just - I... I got caught up, you know?" Michel said. "Michael, why are they coming after you now?" Nate asked. "Well, l-last week, they got ripped off. An entire shipment, it was - it was just gone, and they - they think I did it, but I had nothing to do with it." Michael said. "Right, so they broke into your place, they didn't find it, and they took your mom as collateral?" Nate questioned, getting the story straight. Kaira felt bad for the kid. "They said I can return the shipment or pay a hundred grand. I mean, that's a hundred grand. My dad and I don't have that kind of money. This is all my fault." Michael said, upset. Then Michael went off on a hostage. "You just got to listen to me. Listen. I know what you're going through, And I can help you if you let me." Nate said. "How? I mean, y-you're trapped in here, same as us." Michael questioned. "I got people on the outside." Nate said.</p><p>Sophie was still with Derrick. "No. No cops. If they found out we contacted the police, they'd kill her." Derrick argued. "They're not cops. I promise you. They're friends of mine. You can trust them." Sophie said. "Why should I trust you? I don't know who you are." Derrick questioned. "I'm a thief." Sophie said. Kaira rolled her eyes. "Okay. I'm not sure what to do with that." Derrick said, unsure. "That creep over there, Judge Roy? Amongst other things, he's been taking bribes from meth dealers and smugglers. Two months ago, he cut a man loose who killed a local girl." Sophie explained. "Delgado, right? Beth Delgado. I remember that. She was a good kid. She went to school with my son." Derrick said. "We're running a scam on the judge. We're stealing all his dirty money and giving it to the family. Listen. I have one partner in the bank and four more outside." Sophie explained. "I can't trust... you're thieves." Derrick grappled with the idea. "And we're your only chance. Police have this place surrounded. You're not going anywhere. My people are the only ones who can make the drop." Sophie said. "But how are you gonna do that? The deadline's in half an hour. Your friends just happen to have a hundred thousand dollars lying around?" Derrick questioned. "We're gonna use the money that we have in here." Nate said. "It's not enough. We're still short thirty grand." Michael said. "No, Michael, not that money. We have an alternate revenue source." Nate said. "You did not just suggest what you suggested?" Kaira questioned. "Is he suggesting what I think he's suggesting?" Hardison asked. "Are you suggesting what we think you're suggesting?" Parker asked. "You want to give our bad guys' money to some other bad guys?" Parker questioned. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting we do. But we're gonna do it without blowing our covers, gang." Nate said. "Who - who - who are you talking to?" Michael asked. "Maybe I'm just dense, Nate. But your alternate revenue source is sitting two feet from Boss Hog himself in the middle of a bank surrounded by a bunch of cops." Eliot said. "I didn't say it was gonna be easy. But nothing's impossible, especially when you have the world's greatest thief on your payroll. Parker, have you ever robbed a bank that's being robbed?" Nate said. "There's a first time for everything. Bank was built prior to 1980, before computers. Means it's got a larger than normal night deposit chute." Parker said. "Cause business owners had to drop off ledgers with their daily hauls." Hardison said. Parker and Kaira were impressed. "What, you thought my genius was only limited to ones and zeros?" Hardison questioned. "I'm thinking the chute's my way in. Only problem is it's in the alley on this side of the building." Parker explained. "You'd be visible to the cops out front. I think me and Hardison can handle that." Kaira said.</p><p>"We actually have bigger problems." Hardison said. "What's that?" Eliot asked. "Sheriff Coltrane over here called the FBI - the real FBI. Now the closest office is in San Diego, so they should be here in about, um, give it 45 minutes." Hardison said. "We can't worry about that now." Nate said. "When do we worry about it?" Hardison asked. "In about 45 minutes." Nate said. Parker left. "What's going on?" Michael asked. Nate must have shown him the earbud. Then Derrick came in with Sophie. Kaira got her plan ready to distract the police with Hardison. Parker dialed Hardison's phone and he answered it. "Agent Leonard." Hardison started. "Yeah, yeah. Wh - uh, yeah, we will do whatever you need us to do. Just please don't hurt anybody. O-okay." Hardison said, hanging up the phone. "Everyone gather around!" Kaira exclaimed. The police gathered around Hardison and Kaira. "Now, boys, that was the call - the call we were waiting for. Now, look, they have a list of demands." Hardison said. "They want pizza boxes so they can sneak their cash out. They are asking that once we deliver the boxes, we leave so they can escape and run and for us to wait twenty minutes until we go in. So far, none of the hostages are hurt. Though a hostage will be hurt if those pizza boxes aren't delivered in a timely manner. So, get your asses moving and get me the pizza boxes." Kaira ordered. Her speech gave Parker enough time to get in the chute. It was silent for a second. Roy and Nate talked while Derrick met with Parker. "There's a lot of money in there." Derrick said. "Yeah, I know." Parker said. "My wife's life depends on that money getting to where it needs to go." Derrick said. "I understand. Sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get." Parker said. Parker left the chute. It was silent for a while. Then a gunshot rang out and Sophie called out to Nate.</p><p>Kaira tensed up as she ducked behind a police car, just to be safe along with the other cops, who had their guns out. "Nate, Sophie, what the hell is going on there?" Kaira whispered. No response. "Guys, wait a second. You start firing your weapons, you'll scare the gunmen and risk more hostages. Put your guns away." Kaira ordered. The cops did. "Please, everybody just calm down. Just - just put the guns down. We can talk this thing through." Sophie said. Kaira was not liking the situation at all. "I'm not taking orders from you, missy." Roy said. "What is your problem?" Sophie asked. "My problem? You're my problem. You and Nate there. I heard what you called him - Nate. Which is weird 'cause when we met, he told me his name was Carl. You guys are trying to rip me off. And you're in on it with these two!" Roy exclaimed, very upset. "Agent Leonard, I need eyes, now!" Kaira ordered. Hardison did. "We have nothing to do with these people." Derrick said. "No, no, no, no. No, I see what's going on here. The four of you are conspiring against me. This bank robbery is not even real, is it?" Roy chuckled, thinking me had the truth. "It's just one big scam to try and get my money! And, actually, it's not a bad plan. I mean, if old Carl here just disappeared with the cash, you knew I'd come after him. Eventually, I'd track him down. But if the money was stolen in a bank robbery, well, heck, you might get away with that." Roy said. "You're wrong. They were just trying to help us. My wife - she was taken. We need the money for ransom." Derrick explained through tears. "Ransom? Really? Is that the best you can do? You'd have to be an idiot to fall for a cockamamie story like that!" Roy yelled, getting very agitated. "Guys, what's the play here?" Kaira asked. There was more banter between the three. "Now, please, he needs to get to a hospital." Sophie pleaded. Roy wasn't having it. He wanted his money back. Kaira couldn't stay, so she faked a phone call and told the Sheriff that she had a time-sensitive tip she had to take care of. Eliot and Kaira had taken the briefcase to the site where Michael was supposed to deliver the cash to. "It's not here." Sophie said. "Well, I can see that." Roy retorted. "No, I mean it's not in the building." Sophie said. "Come on, come on." Eliot said impatient. "They haven't arrived yet?" Hardison asked. "Yeah, cause meth heads are so punctual." Eliot said. "You don't come into my town and think you can get away with my money." Roy said, getting more agitated. "A man had been shot, sir. Y-you have to let him go." A man said. "I said no one leaves." Roy repeated. "He's bleeding!" A woman pleaded for Nate. "Oh, shut up! Everybody, shut up! I'm trying to think. If you got the briefcase out of the bank, that means you must have a man on the outside. How are you communicating with him?" Roy asked. Parker was selling the story of the gunshot to the Sheriff.</p><p>Hardison walked over. "Gunshot was an accidental misfire. No one was hurt, but one of the hostages was grazed. They're gonna release him as soon as their demands are met. Where the hell are the pizza boxes at?" Hardison informed the group. Kaira and Eliot waited, nervous. "Oh this is bad." Parker said. "Son of a bitch." Kaira muttered under her breath. "You get your guys when I get my money!" Roy exclaimed. Roy smashed the earbud and a loud piercing humming was heard. Eliot and Kaira winced. "This is really bad." Parker said. "Sophie don't worry, we'll get you out of this. Let me talk to Roy." Kaira said before Sophie took her earbud out and told Roy he had a caller. "Hello Judge. My name's Kaira Newton. You've shot my boss and are holding my friend." Kaira said, a calm anger to her. "And you have my money." Roy said, getting angry. "You'll get your money as soon as we take care of the people holding the man's wife hostage." Kaira said. "Like I believe that." Roy said, getting agitated more. "Be seeing you, you disgusting son of a bitch. I'm gonna enjoy taking you down." Kaira retorted. "And I am looking forward to getting my money back." Roy said. Roy smashed the earbud sending out another wave of piercing static. "Is that what I thought it was?" Eliot asked, worried. "I'm afraid so, cowboy." Kaira confirmed regretfully. "Nate looks pretty messed up, man. We're gonna need that briefcase back." Hardison said, also worried. "I'm working on it." Eliot said. It was silent for a moment. Then the meth heads arrived and looked at the cash. Then a woman got out of the car and tried escaping, but the meth heads stopped her. One pulled out a gun, which Eliot grabbed his wrist. "Hey. What smells like crank and screams like a girl?" Eliot said before grabbing the gun with his free hand and hit the guy's knee with the gun, causing him to scream like a girl. "Right answer." Eliot retorted. He threw the gun at the guy in the truck as Kaira dealt with the other guy and Eliot kept kicking the door shut until finally, they double-teamed to finish off the trio of meth heads. They went to the woman and Eliot removed her gag as Kaira grabbed her knife to cut the tape off and gag off. "Who are you?" She asked. "Well, ma'am. We'd be the calvary." Eliot said. The woman was grateful. They made the final plan.</p><p>Hardison faked security footage and used the pizza boxes to bring in the money. Eliot and Parker switched clothes with Michael and Derrick for paramedic uniforms and Kaira went to drive them away with Nate in the ambulance. They also switched the contents of Roys briefcase with drugs. Once father and son saw the woman, they hugged and were relieved. "That's all very heartwarming, but could we save it for after the morphine drip?" Nate questioned. The gang still at the bank made up the story that Roy started the robbery. Kaira went by after in the ambulance. That was after Kaira and Eliot put the meth heads on the front steps of the bank in the trunk of a van. The gang was in the ambulance on the way back. Eliot was patching up Nate as Kaira was passenger, Hardison drove, and Parker and Sophie were in the back helping Eliot. "Hey, thanks, Parker." Sophie said. "Whatever." Parker said. "No, it was an excellent performance. You too, Kaira." Sophie said. "Yeah, I think I can act okay when I'm yelling at people and bossing them around." Parker said. Kaira just smiled. "Well, that's a good start." Sophie said. "Listen, we have to make sure we get the cash to the Delgado family. Ow!" Nate said before wincing in pain. "Settle down. You act like you've never been shot before." Eliot said. "Babe, should I be concerned that you consider bullet wounds not a big deal?" Kaira asked. "Not really." Elliot smiled at her. "Damn you." Kaira muttered. "So, uh, pizza boxes, huh?" Nate questioned. "I know, I know. You could have done better." Hardison said. "No, no, no. No, I couldn't have." Nate said. "I was the one who ordered the pizza boxes." Kaira said. "Good job." Nate said, proud. They continued driving in the sunset, glad to have made it out of this job in one piece. "It goes without saying, but this job was too close. I mean we couldn't have predicted what would happen, but it went downhill fast." Kaira said. The team agreed. They went their separate ways for the moment.</p><p>Kaira took Nate aside. "Nathan, I nearly lost you today. You got shot, and I couldn't do anything." Kaira said, freaking out a bit. Nate put his hands on her shoulders. "Hey. Your job is to watch Eliot. Someone has to watch his back while he's watching ours. It's not your job to do both." Nate said, comforting Kaira. "Thanks, Nathan." Kaira said, composing herself. She left with Eliot. Kaira could tell Eliot sensed something happened and what it was. They laid down in bed together. "Eliot, your job is to watch the teams back. But who watches your back?" Kaira asked him. "I guess you, Princess. You've watched it for the last four years. I can't imagine you not." Eliot said. Kaira cuddled closer to Eliot. "Eliot I nearly lost Nathan today. I wasn't there to protect him." Kaira said. "Oh, Princess, that's my burden. You look out for me. I lookout for the team, and the team looks out for you. Nate knew the risks when he went in." Eliot said. "I guess I wish I was in the bank so I could change things." Kaira said, feeling the emotions coming. "Baby, nothing good comes from thinking about what you did wrong. Just focus on the end result. We got everybody out alive, and Judge blow hard went to jail, and we got the money for the Delgado family. That's a win." Eliot said, comforting Kaira. Kaira smiled and calmed down. "Thanks Eliot for always making me feel better after I do this." Kaira said. "Anything for my princess." Eliot said. They leaned in and kissed a soft kiss. Then they went to bed, waiting for the next job.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Stork Job (1x6)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This latest job is an interesting one. The team is tasked with finding a lost child for a young couple who wanted to adopt him but he got taken and the husband got the shit beaten out of him for asking questions. Their mark? A model and actress who got into the Russian mob. How will Kaira handle how personal the case is for her?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Kaira and Eliot got called in, she wasn't expecting this case. A woman whose husband got the shit beaten out of him because they asked questions about the legitimacy of the adoption agency they used. Kaira sat down with Eliot, trying to stay calm. The team joined her for the briefing. "So Irina let Luka stay with the Mortons for a week. That's when this was taken." Nate said, showing the picture on the screens. "What happened to the boy afterwards?" Sophie asked. "Don't know. A car came along and picked him up, took him away." Nate said. "That's cruel. You don't just let someone desperate to be a mother spend time with a kid and just take them away without expecting them to ask questions." Kaira said, trying to stay calm. The team sensed her anger. "Are we seriously considering this, huh? Swiping a kid?" Eliot questioned. "Yeah well - what happened to you?" Nate asked, noticing the wounds on Eliot's face. Kaira tried to keep a straight face. "Well, how was I supposed to know it was a lesbian bar?" Eliot said. Nate chuckled. "Me and Eliot went to a bar, didn't really know the name. We just walked in and a girl flirted with me, thinking I was a lesbian, and Eliot got defensive, she clocked him." Kaira explained the story. The team chuckled a bit. "Okay, listen - money, jewels, paintings - those we steal. But a little boy?" Sophie questioned, not liking the target. "We help people who have nowhere else to go. The U.S government isn't gonna help because they went outside the system. And over there, it's the wild west." Nate explained. "No records, no paper trails. We're supposed to find one orphan." Hardison said. "How do we even know this kid is an orphan?" Eliot asked. Hardison pulled up the Morton's camera footage of Luka. "See him pocketing those cookies? He's hoarding food. That bag on the table - he keeps his essentials light and portable. He knows he's gonna be taken away at any moment. And there, when she goes to touch him, he flinches. He's expecting... for her to... trust me he's an orphan." Parker said, causing an alarm with Kaira.</p><p>"Well, if he's in a bad situation, shouldn't we try to get him for the Morton's? I know they'll take care of him." Kaira said. "We will. Hardison, hit it." Nate ordered. "Irina Larenko. Former Russian model. She had a decent career in the '80s. She did the whole Paris Fashion circuit. Uh, she had some small parts in some small films." Hardison explained. "Really? Like, what films?" Sophie asked. "Some... French films." Hardison answered. "Like what?" Kaira questioned. Hardison stammered a bit. "Emmanuelle Unleashed." Hardison said. "She was Tatiyana. Yeah, this was when they rebooted the franchise." Eliot said, recognizing Irina. "That's right - Emmanuelle at the space station who rides the controls." Nate said. "Yeah, yeah." Eliot chuckled, getting looks from Sophie and Kaira. Hardison cleared his throat. "Okay. Anyway, she started living a little too hard. She fell in with some Russian mobsters. She wound up grifting her way through Europe. She ended up in Belgrade a few years ago." Hardison explained. "Alright, what's the adoption scam?" Eliot asked. "Okay, so you're looking to adopt a kid, right? You log on to a legitimate adoption website. You follow one of the links on the side, it leads you to Irina. Now she just shows you a bunch of pictures, strings you along a little bit, and she hits you up for some money." Hardison explained. "Yeah, it's just like the Spanish Prisoner scam." Sophie explained. "And then she hooks you until she bleeds you dry." Nate said. "Yeah, but how does she get the kids?" Parker asked. "After the war, there was, what, a hundred thousand orphans in Serbia. She could be getting them from anywhere." Hardison explained. "Where is Irina now?" Kaira asked. "Well, she closed her office in Belgrade after the incident with the Morton's. However... her name popped up on an invitation to a party at the embassy next week - very exclusive." Hardison explained. "All right. We're gonna do this the old fashioned way - a little hook and hook. Pack your bags. We're going to Belgrade." Nate said. He got up. "Hey, can we - can we stop off in Paris on the way?" Sophie asked. "Uh, maybe on the way back." Nate said. Then the rest of the gang left. Kaira took Parker aside. "Parker, you gonna be cool? Cause I need you to be cool on this one." Kaira said, a hand on Parker's shoulder in comfort. "Yeah. I'm cool." Parker said. The gang left to get ready.</p><p>They arrived in Belgrade at the Embassy the next week. Kaira and Parker were waiters, Eliot was a guest, and Hardison was on the computer with Sophie as she already met the ambassador, and Nate was oversight as always. Parker went over to Irina and her plus one and he looked at Parker, interested. Kaira went over with some food and offered a smile. He reciprocated the smile. Eliot was chatting with some girls to blend in. Eliot saw Kaira and went up to her, acting like he was getting food. "You gonna be okay with me flirting for my cover?" Eliot asked. "Yeah, cowboy. Just as long as I know you're coming home with me at the end of the night." Kaira said, flirting, and walked away, leaving Eliot flustered a bit. Eliot went back to the ladies as Parker walked by. He grabbed a glass of champagne he had on the table. "Do you have eyes on Irina?" Nate asked. "Yes. And she's with someone." Parker said. "That's never stopped me before." Eliot said. Parker walked away. "Men." Kaira muttered under her breathe. "Get me a picture." Nate ordered. "On it." Kaira said, grabbing the phone Hardison gave her. She held it up and acted like she was trying to get better reception and snapped a picture and sent it to Hardison. "You know, this would be easier if you were in here." Eliot said. "Well, we would be if Sophie wasn't already old friends with the ambassador." Nate said. Kaira chuckled. "I wouldn't say old friends exactly. I still have that tiara, though." Sophie said. "Hardison, anything on the facial recognition? Come on." Nate questioned, getting impatient. "Hey, I'm working on a laptop in a borrowed office." Hardison said, unamused. "You know, just hurry up." Nate ordered. "It's not so fun working in the crappy command center, is it? No, see, you're usually off doing your European spy thing. Well, welcome to my world." Hardison said. "Hardison, I appreciate all you do. And sometimes the European spy shit isn't fun, just saying." Kaira said. Just a few seconds later, Hardison got a hit. "Oh. I-I got a hit - fast. That's weird. I got a face match but no name. This file's already on my hard drive. That's the guy that - that - that's the guy who picked up the kid from the Morton's." Hardison said. "It sure is him. Hey Parker, I need you to lift his wallet. We need more info." Nate ordered. "Eliot... get ready to meet Irine. I'll give you your cues." Sophie said. "You know, I have picked up women before, all right?" Elliot said. "Hey cowboy, your southern charm and rattlesnake smile may have worked on me, but Irina is a professional grifter. She's gonna see right through your moves." Kaira said. She moved over to Parker, who was up against a railing. "Parker, have you found him yet?" Nate asked. "No. I can't believe I lost him." Parker said.</p><p>Kaira was walking towards Parker when she saw the guy come up right next to Parker. "Well, hello, beautiful." He said in a European accent. "Found him." Parker said. Kaira went to the side but stayed in sight. "Okay Parker I'll guide you. Nate, keep quiet about cues. Sophie only focus on Eliot. I've got you, Parker. Hardison, keep the smart ass remarks to yourself." Kaira ordered. "And who has come to shame the splendor of Belgrade with her beauty?" He asked. "Okay, Parker. Say your name is Maria." Kaira said. "Maria." Parker said. "Maria. Beautiful name for a beautiful lady." The man said. "Tell me, Maria, what brings you to Serbia?" The man asked. "Parker, say your an exchange student from the states studying European history. Make sure to maintain eye contact and smile a bit. That shows your interested. And soften your voice. It shows an innocence to you. " Kaira said. "I'm an exchange student. I major in European History." Parker said, giving a slight smile. "Good. Now ask him his name." Kaira said. "What's your name?" Parker asked. "Nicolas Obrovic, at you service." He said. It was silent for a moment as Eliot flirted with Irina and Sophie gave him cues and Sophie revealed, kinda, that she uses the grifter tricks on Nate. "So... where are you from?" Nicolas asked. "Say you're from Los Angeles. That's a commonplace where people look to travel from." Kaira said. "Los Angeles." Parker answered. Nicolas chuckled. "Okay he's comfortable. Good job." Kaira complimented. "What hobbies do you have?" Nicolas asked. "Okay Parker, say that you enjoy traveling, but that you're saying in Belgrade to work to pay off student loans." Kaira suggested. "I enjoy traveling. Though I'm in Belgrade working to pay off my student loans." Parker said. Then Nate and Sophie were arguing. "Hey, you, uh, manipulating me?" Nate asked. "Nate, really, now?" Sophie said. "Well..." Nate said quietly. "No, give her a time limit. Tell her you can't stay long. All relationships are about manipulation." Sophie said. talking to Eliot and Nate. "Oh, that - that's so cynical." Nate said, talking to Sophie. "Perfect. Now step back. Yeah, let her come to you." Sophie said to Elliot. "Why is that cynical, huh? Because I don't leave my personal life to chance?" Sophie questioned. Kaira guided Parker through some more questions as she continued listening to Nate and Sophie.</p><p>"Well, no because I mean, you say all-" Nate was saying before Hardison tried to get their attention. "Guys, guys." Hardison said. "That's not." One of them said before Hardison interrupted again. "Really, guys. seriously? Come on now, look - if you're done with your little banter, I actually got useful information, okay? Nicolas Obrovic - Organized crime ties. Smuggling. Now, he went legit five years ago. He took over a government agency that takes in families from the Kosovo War - relocation's and lost relatives, things like that." Hardison explained. "Yeah, all right. That explains how she gets the kids. This guy could lead us right to Luka. Okay, Parker try this..." Nate said before telling Parker what to say. Parker looked at the horizon. "It's amazing to see how far Serbia's come, but the scars must still be there. I mean, all the families who suffered during the war." Parker said, a brighter tone to her voice. "Yes, but history always has its casualties." Nicolas said, unsympathetic. "Yes, but those families and all of those children." Parker said sympathetically before Nicolas cut her off. "It's tragic, yes. But the strong, the smart, the... the beautiful, they survive." Nicolas was saying. Kaira saw in Parker's body language that she was dissociating, thinking about something. "Parker, stay cool." Kaira warned. "Not everyone... is worth saving." Nicolas said before Kaira saw Parker grab a fork. "Parker, don't!" Kaira exclaimed. It was too late. She stabbed Nicolas in the shoulder. He called for a bodyguard. She then panicked. "Parker! Dammit!" Kaira exclaimed, angry as she tried to find an exit for her and Eliot. Parker jumped off the balcony. "Ow!" Sophie exclaimed about something. "What's going on? What - what happened?" Nate asked. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm - I'm getting a bunch of calls to the police. What the hell is going on down there?" Hardison questioned, confused. "Parker stabbed Obrovic with a fork!" Kaira exclaimed, angry. The team groaned a bit. "I'm gonna lose Irina." Eliot said. "No you won't cowboy." Kaira said, trying to calm down to think. "Okay, all right, all right, hold on. Maybe Irina is gonna go after Nicolas, see what's happened to him." Nate suggested, also trying to think. "Unh-unh. No, no, no, no, no. She wouldn't risk that. No, no, no. They'd be prepared. They'd have a safe house. A dead drop for further instructions - that's what I'd do." Sophie said. "Yes. That's right. That's exactly what you'd do. Okay, Eliot, listen up. We don't have much time." Nate said before giving Eliot a cue. "Listen, sweetheart, I-I-I-I apologize. I have to get out of here. I have a - I have an early call time tomorrow, so..." Eliot said before Irina interrupted. "Call time?" Irina questioned. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm, uh, I'm here producing a film, among other things - trying to produce. There's a - there's a lot of roles left to cast." Eliot said. Irina got excited. "You know, I used to be actress." Irina said. "You're kidding me." Eliot acted surprised. "Quite good, you know." Irina said. "You wouldn't - You wouldn't want - I mean, it's - it's a really small role." Eliot said. "There are no small roles. Here." Irina said excitedly, handing Eliot a card. "This is perfect." Eliot said with a slight smile. "I have to go." Irina said. "I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll have a car sent to this address in the morning that will pick you up." Eliot said. "Okay, thank you." Irina said before saying goodbye and leaving. Kaira went to find Eliot and meet up with the rest of the team.</p><p>"So, how did you know that Irina would go for the movie thing?" Sophie asked. "A European grifter who wants to be an actress? Lucky guess." Nate said, obviously implying Sophie was the inspiration. "Where's Parker?" Nate asked as Eliot and Kaira walked in. "How the hell should I know?" Eliot questioned, taking off the tie. "I can't reach her on comms. She slipped past the security grid at the embassy." Hardison reported. Eliot stood next to Kaira as she held on to Eliot's arm, worried for Parker. "Where could she be?" Sophie asked. "This is Parker we're talking about. She could be halfway across Europe by now. Trust me - she is gone." Hardison said. "Who's gone?" Parker said, appearing next to Sophie, startling Kaira a bit. The team gave her looks. "What?" Parker questioned. "Parker, you can't just stab someone when you don't like what they say. And you said you would be cool." Kaira said upset, looking at Parker. She was silent. "So, Irina's expecting to be in a movie. What do we do now?" Sophie questioned. "Now? We steal a movie." Nate chuckled, walking away. They went to the safe house as they got ready to steal a movie. Kaira and Eliot laid in bed. "You did good today, Kaira." Eliot smiled at his girlfriend. "Thanks. You did too. Got Irina on the hook. Now we got a chance to take her down." Kaira complimented. "Thanks. You holding up okay?" Eliot asked. "Yeah, cowboy. Just a bit nervous about the movie set." Kaira said, trying to smile. Eliot placed a soft kiss on Kaira's forehead. "It's gonna work out. I love you, Kaira." Eliot said, comforting Kaira. "I love you too, Eliot." Kaira smiled. Eliot took his free hand and cupped Kaira's neck as he pulled her into another kiss. They wished each other good night and went to bed. The next day, they got the movie set.</p><p>Kaira acted as Eliot's driver and picked up Irina. Parker was the production assistant, Hardison was props, Nate was the director, Sophie was a role to be determined, and Eliot was the producer. Kaira also was the production assistant to watch Parker. Kaira arrived with Irina as Eliot met with them. Kaira stayed back in case Irina would recognize her, but stayed close enough to watch Parker. Kaira followed Parker back to the props bus. "This is ridiculous." Parker complained, taking off her headset. Kaira sat on the other side of the bus. "Tell me about it. We're supposed to believe these are real?" Hardison complained as he sat in between the women, playing with the prop gun. "This is what he expects me to do, fetch scripts and water?" Parker questioned. "No, Parker. It's a trust thing. Nate just needs to know you're going to go along with the game plan." Kaira said, comforting Parker. "Yeah, yeah. I get it - we're a team." Parker said. Kaira and Hardison looked at each other. "A little more than a team. I'm just saying." Hardison said. Kaira nodded her head in agreement. She viewed this team as her family. Hardison was like the younger annoying brother, Parker was like the younger sister, Nate was like a father, and Sophie was like a mom to Kaira. She looked up to Sophie for little things she does to be a better grifter. She watched Nate formulate plans in his head and she watched the process, learning to be a mastermind. Kaira just smiled at the thought. Then Eliot started walking towards them. "Hardison?" Eliot clapped his hands to get his attention. "Let's go, man. Do you have it?" Eliot questioned, impatient. "Aw, not yet. Uh, Sophie, Sophie, we need that scene. Are you finished with it yet?" Hardison called out to her. "It's in the box on the back of the truck." Sophie called out. Hardison reached behind and found the script. Kaira grabbed it from Hardison and looked at it. Kaira got annoyed. "Sophie, you were supposed to write a simple two-page scene between a mother and a boy matching Luka's description!" Kaira exclaimed. Eliot grabbed the script. "That's still the heart of it." Sophie argued. "The heart of it? There's like 10 pages here! You have a stunt. You have special effects." Eliot listed, annoyed. Parker grabbed the script. "Sister Magda crosses and gets a loaf of bread. Wait, who's Sister Magda?" Parker questioned. Then Sophie appeared beside them, wearing a white nun's outfit. Kaira rolled her eyes. "Yep. Saw that coming." Kaira retorted as she left with Eliot. The rest joined her inside.</p><p>Kaira listened as Nate and Sophie argued about the scene. "Of course you need the nun! You can't give Irina the death scene." Sophie argued. "What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. What - what death scene?" Nate questioned. "In the second act. But the thing is, you -" Sophie was saying before Nate cut her off. "What?" Nate asked. "You have to establish, you know, the main character's dramatic need. Otherwise, there's no emotional payoff in the resolution." Sophie explained. "Right. Wait. This - this is a movie about NATO troops being attacked by werewolves! No. There is no emotional payoff!" Nate exclaimed. "Excuse me?" Sophie questioned, offended. "All we need to do is convince her to bring Luka to the set to finish her scene, complete it, and that's it. Let's just keep this simple." Nate said. "Listen. All right, look around you. Look - look at all this. This - this is my world, okay? You need - you need someone to, I don't know, crawl through an air duct, you call Parker. Bash a head in - Eliot. Internet porn - Hardison. Need someone to grift, steal, and fight - Kaira. If you need someone to take over a movie, then..." Sophie was about to say before Nate cut her off again. "Yes, an - an actor. Right, um, Sophie... about the acting..." Nate was about to say before Sophie interrupted again. "Oh, yeah? What? What is it?" Sophie questioned. Nate went silent, wanting to tell her the truth, but couldn't. "You're right. Y-you're right. You know, we're gonna go - we're gonna go with your scene." Nate said. As Sophie got excited and kissed Nate on the cheek. She left as Nate threw the script. They got set up for the scene. Nate sat down on his seat, holding a prop gun. "Okay, everybody, tense up!" Nate said, firing the gun. Kaira rolled her eyes again as she stood near her boyfriend. "And... action!" Nate called. Sophie did her scene, which actually didn't go that bad. Kaira saw the camera had no film, so she recorded the scene with her phone. She kept it to send to Sophie later. The scene finished with Sophie on the ground. "And... cut!" Nate called. Everyone was clapping. "She can act when it's an act." Nate whispered to Kaira and Eliot. They walked away, Eliot was not amused. Eliot, Nate, and Kaira went over to Sophie. "That was amazing Sophie!" Kaira complimented, giving Sophie a hug. Nate stumbled to try and compliment Sophie. "Hey. I'm gonna need that for my reel, okay?" Sophie said, looking at the cameraman. She walked away as Kaira blended in the crowd. Nate and Eliot faked an argument where Irina was gonna be cut, saying the boy who was supposed to play her son never showed up for work. With the threat of cutting her scene for budget reasons, Irina said she'd bring a boy she knew to the set the next day. That was the hook to get Luka on set. She ran off, saying to not cut the scene. "Parker, she's on the move." Nate said to Parker. She went off with Hardison to tail Irina.</p><p>Hardison called a while later with a troubling development. They found Luka, but there were so many more kids in the orphanage. Also they were gunrunners at the orphanage. When they met back up, Nate explained the scam. "So, during the NATO bombing runs in the '90s, gunrunners, they used to store their weapons in hospitals, orphanages, anywhere they knew wouldn't be targeted." Nate explained. "Yeah, so, now instead of invading bombs, they're ducking the police. It's the same strategy." Sophie explained further. "And what about the adoption scam?" Parker questioned. "Oh, fringe benefit. You take a building filled with orphans, a bunch of kids nobody cares about, why not use them to make some extra cash?" Nate said. "Nicolas sells his guns, and Irina gets a little sideline." Eliot said. "A modern-day working couple." Kaira retorted. "I ran Humpty and Dumpty through the usual databases. Chechen Separatists. Seriously bad dudes." Hardison said before Eliot laughed. "After reading their bios, I don't think I'm ever gonna sleep again." Hardison said. "Never tell a Chechen his sister has a nice smile. Trust me." Eliot said. "Oh, you mean the time you called me saying you flirted with the wrong girl and her Chechen brother and his friends were after you?" Kaira questioned sarcastically. Eliot growled at her. "I ran this through a translation program. They're inspecting the merchandise. They're bringing the money tomorrow." Hardison reported, showing the laptop screen. "Well, none of this affects our original plan. Irina is bringing Luka to the set here tomorrow. So, we grab him and we clear out. Nicolas doesn't have to be part of the picture." Nate said. Kaira gave him a dirty look. "Nathan, there are kids still at the orphanage. We have to at least try. Get Luka and the other kids and maybe stop the gunrunners." Kaira got defensive. "Listen to me, we can't do anything about them. I mean, we're not equipped." Nate argued. "No, no, I already talked to Parker about it." Hardison argued. "And I said walk away." Parker said. Kaira gave her a look. "Parker, I know you were an orphan and had shitty foster parents. I'm not gonna pretend to know what that was like. But we can't just leave those kids behind. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I did. I have a feeling it's the same for you." Kaira said, angry a bit at Parker. Parker stayed silent. "It is too risky. They have... they have guns, manpower, potential hostages. What do we have? We have a-a prop truck. That's it. What we'll do is we will go home, we will figure this thing out, do some research, make a real plan, and we will come back. We'll come back. But right now, the focus has to be on Luka. To rescue Luka. That's why we're here." Nate said, going to leave, Kaira stood up. "You know what we have, Nathan? We have a genius hacker, the best thief I know, a hitter, a jack of trades, a grifter, and a mastermind. That's all we've needed before." Kaira argued. Eliot tried to comfort her, but she pushed his hand off. "He's right, you know." Eliot said. "Dammit!" Kaira exclaimed, walking away.</p><p>Kaira arrived on set with Irina the next day and stood aside, trying to calm down. Eliot came up next to her. "Kaira." Eliot got cut off by Kaira. "No. Just no." Kaira said, getting angry. "Look, I'm sorry we can't go after the other orphans right now. But we need more time to plan." Eliot explained, quiet so only Kaira could hear him. "Like we haven't had to improvise on the job before." Kaira retorted. "Yeah against much less dangerous people." Eliot argued back. "Eliot, we can take a couple of Chechen goons down. We did it before." Kaira said, getting frustrated. "Kaira, do you remember what happened when we went up against Chechen Separatists?" Eliot questioned. "Yeah. We beat them." Kaira answered, annoyed. "After you nearly died. You were knocked out and bleeding, and I freaked out. You didn't hear me because you were out, but I told you I love you. I told myself if you made it, I would tell you then, but I got scared. I nearly lost you once. I couldn't risk losing the girl I love again. So I kept quiet." Eliot exclaimed, trying to keep quiet. Kaira had a look on her face. "Eliot I knew the risk when I joined up with you." Kaira said, trying to calm down some. "Yeah but now it's my job to make sure you stay safe as your boyfriend and partner." Eliot said, moving Kaira to a more private area. "And it's my job to watch your back and make sure you're okay as your girlfriend and partner." Kaira said. "Kaira don't go off by yourself. Wait for all of us to be ready, that way we can do this safely." Eliot argued. "I can't make any promises Eliot." Kaira said, walking away. She left a frustrated Eliot as she guided Irina to Nate as Eliot joined them with Luka. Kaira left to do her job. Hardison got the prop guns ready. Kaira hid underneath the false door, waiting for Luka to get ready. She led Luka outside where he got picked up and taken to the Morton's. Then Parker and Kaira left to get the other kids. Kaira and Parker took out their comms and went to the orphanage.</p><p>Parker and Kaira sneaked into the orphanage and into the room where the kids were. Kaira spoke to them in Serbian, telling them to follow her and Parker. The kids were scared to go at first, but then Parker said Häagen-Dazs and the kids lined up. Kaira told them to be quiet as Parker opened the door. Nicolas was on the outside. Parker told Kaira to protect the kids as she fought with Nicolas. She told them to leave after taking down Nicolas. They approached a stairwell, where a kid made a small noise. Parker put her finger on her lip, signaling to be quiet. Then Sophie showed up. "Parker, Kaira." Sophie gestured for them to go. Just as they were beginning to walk up, one of the kids made a noise, alerting the people below to their presence. They grabbed their guns, but then a voice came over a loudspeaker, saying they were surrounded. The distraction allowed the ladies to get the children up. Sophie told the kids to follow and keep going into the truck as they made their way outside. Parker and Kaira shushed her as they passed a door. "Be quiet. They have armed guards at the door." Parker said. Then the door opened as a body fell and Eliot walked out. "Not anymore." Sophie said, loading up the kids. Kaira smiled. "Thank you." Kaira said as they all got in the truck and left. Parker and Kaira hung on the outside of the truck. Just then the truck stopped as Nicolas and his goons followed them. "Nathan, why the hell are we stopping?" Kaira yelled. The goons arrived as Parker was yelling at them to go. Then the goons aimed the rifles at the truck and Parker and Kaira moved to use themselves as shields. The gunshots sounded as Kaira and Parker flinched, thinking they were getting shot. The gunshots stopped and Kaira and Parker looked at themselves, wondering why they had no bullet holes like they thought they did. They looked back at Sophie. "Prop truck." Sophie said. Kaira knew what happened. Eliot and Nate switched the real guns for the prop guns that were used for the movie set. Then Hardison appeared, clicking a remote as the building exploded. Hardison got on as Parker and Kaira went back to give Hardison space to get in. They drove off, revealing the voice Kaira heard earlier was from the sound effects speaker on the truck.</p><p>They drove to a warehouse as the kids fell asleep with Kaira telling them a story about The Brave Man (Walking Dead fans will get that). "They're all asleep." Sophie reported. "We'll replace this license plate, Nate, so that we can get a clean shot to the border." Eliot said, looking at a map with Nate and Kaira. "Okay, when we cross over, we're gonna turn the kids over to the World Health Organization." Nate explained before Parker and Kaira got worried. "What? Wait." Parker said before Nate spoke up. "No, it's okay. We called, and they're expecting us. It's all gonna be okay." Nate said, comforting Parker. "Okay." Parker whispered. "What about Irina?" Kaira questioned. "Irina. Hmm. Yeah, well, remember the movie funding that just disappeared?" Nate questioned, clicking his fingers. "Yeah." Kaira said before realizing what had happened. Hardison probably sent her the money, which notified the producer and sent the FBI after Irina, sending her to jail. "She should have known better, taking a producer's cut." Nate said. He clicked his tongue. "Oh, Nate, you - you did get a copy of my scene, my death scene, for my reel?" Sophie questioned before Eliot popped up from behind the truck. "Yeah, no, no, uh, we kinda..." Nate was about to say. Sophie had a disappointed face. "There was no film in the camera." Eliot said, getting daggers from Sophie. Kaira chuckled as Sophie pointed at Nate. "We are definitely, definitely stopping in Paris." Sophie said. "Sophie I recorded the scene on my phone. I'll send it to you once we get back home." Kaira said as the team looked at her. "What? I saw the camera didn't have film in it, so I recorded the scene for Sophie." Kaira said, defensively. Sophie patted her shoulder as she went to go in the truck. "Way to go, no film in the camera. Really, seriously?" Nate said, mocking Eliot as he left. Parker and Kaira went up to Nate. "Hey, how did you know me and Kaira were gonna be at the orphanage?" Parker asked. "Thank Hardison and Eliot for that." Nate said, walking away. Parker walked over to Hardison as Kaira stayed put, thinking of the conversation that happened beforehand. Eliot probably yelling at the team about getting a plan together.</p><p>Kaira walked to the other side of the truck and got a look from Eliot. "I told you to not run off!" Eliot exclaimed at Kaira. She got frustrated. "And I said no promises." Kaira argued back. "You could have gotten killed!" Eliot exclaimed. "I'm sorry, Eliot. I had to go back and get the kids." Kaira said, trying to calm down. "I know. That's how I knew you were with Parker at the orphanage. Plus Hardison put a tracker in Parker's shoe." Eliot said. "Thank you for coming to get me, cowboy." Kaira said, kissing Eliot's cheek. "That's my job, ain't it Princess?" Eliot said, kissing Kaira on the lips softly. They held hands as they got in the truck. Then Parker and Hardison got in the truck. "Hey, Nate. I have to tell you something." Parker said, quietly. "What? What is it?" Nate asked, quietly. "We have to stop at Häagen-Dazs." Parker said before the kids yelled in excitement. Kaira and the team laughed. They drove to the border and dropped the kids off, where they got the medical attention needed and sent to foster homes. Kaira was happy. She always had a soft spot for kids. How innocent they were. Sometimes she wished she still had that innocence. After dropping the kids of, they stopped in Paris. Kaira and Eliot mostly went to the smaller restaurants to enjoy the food and wine. Eliot and Kaira talked about food and encounters of their youth. At the end of the night, they laid down in bed, winding down from the days activities. Kaira laid on Eliot's shoulder as Eliot put his arm on Kaira's waist. "Kaira, when the guys came out with the guns and fired at you, I saw how you and Parker moved. You thought your last move was protecting everyone on the bus." Eliot said. Kaira looked at him. "Yeah. I didn't care. My only thought was protecting the people in the truck." Kaira said, unapologetically. Eliot wanted to say something, but he couldn't get the words out. "I'm not gonna apologize for doing my job." Kaira said, sternly. "That's not what I was saying." Eliot said. "Then what?" Kaira questioned. "I was gonna say I understand why you did it. I would've done the same. I just got worried seeing you not think twice about sacrificing yourself." Eliot said, getting emotional. "I'm sorry I worried you. It was instinct." Kaira said, inching closer to Eliot. "I know." Eliot said. He kissed Kaira before they went to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Wedding Job (1x7)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When a friend of Sophie's, Theresa, asks for her help with getting back the money she was promised from local mobster Nicky Moscone, who her husband took the fall for 5 years ago, Sophie and the rest of the team are in head first, with Nate inching his way in. In order to find the money, they must go undercover at the wedding of the Don's daughter to find it. Eliot reveals a few tricks he has up his sleeve.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot were just laying in bed when they got called in to the office by Sophie. When they arrived at the office, they saw Sophie sitting in the meeting room with the client, Teresa. The couple walked in and Sophie told Teresa to tell her story. Her husband had taken the fall for the local mob boss, Nicky Moscone. Nicky had told her husband Ray that they would look out for his family. "That was five years ago. Ray still has ten more years left on his sentence." Teresa explained. "It's all right, Teresa. Can I get you anything?" Sophie asked. Teresa started crying. Nate then walked in. "Hey, Nate, this is my friend, Teresa." Sophie was explaining before Nate cut her off. Kaira got a look on her face. "Ms. Palermo. Yes. Hardison brought me up to speed. Go on. Please, continue." Nate said, kinda rudely. Kaira gave Nate a look as she sat by him. "Well, after it happened, I told my husband to tell the truth. You know, we'd go in the program, start over. But he said it was better like this, that we'd have a cushion. What a joke. Moscone never gave us a dime. We lost the restaurant, our house. Then a couple of weeks ago, I saw this is our local paper." Teresa explained, grabbing her wallet and pulling out a newspaper article she cut out. She put it on the table and Nate looked at it. "Moscone has a big wedding planned for his daughter - his princess. While my daughter only knows her father from the other side of bulletproof glass. It's not right." Teresa said, starting to get heated a bit. "No, no, it's - it's not right. But you know, uh, we're not detectives. And if you want to prove your husband's innocence, there are plenty of agencies I could recommend." Nate said. Kaira shot daggers at Nate with her eyes. "Don't you think I tried that? This is Nicky Moscone we're talking about. They all laughed." Teresa said. Kaira gave Teresa a sympathetic look. "I think what Nathan's trying to ask is; what exactly do you want from us?" Kaira said to Teresa. "The note on the restaurant - 765,000. I want what Moscone promised us - no more, no less. If I could get the restaurant back, it would give my husband something to look forward to. Otherwise-" Teresa said, keeping her request simple in principle before Nate cut her off. "Yeah. We will discuss it and get back to you." Nate said, standing up. "I understand. Thank you." Teresa said, defeated. Kaira went over to her to walk her out. "Don't worry, Teresa. I'll make sure you get your money and the restaurant back." Kaira said, whispering. Teresa looked side to side. "Where'd my daughter go?" Teresa asked. "I think she was with Parker." Hardison said. Kaira rolled her eyes. "You let Parker babysit?!" Kaira questioned. Hardison just looked at her. They found Parker teaching Teresa's daughter how to pick a lock. The team had varying expressions on their faces.</p><p>Once Teresa left, Kaira hit Nate on the back of the head. "You could have been nicer, Nathan!" Kaira exclaimed. She sat down with the team in the meeting room. "They have nowhere else to turn." Sophie said, walking around everyone. "Yeah, well, you know, her husband should've thought of that before he got in bed with Nicky Moscone. It's mob stuff. It's not the kind of case we take." Nate explained. "Excuse me, Nathan, we help people who have nowhere else to turn. Teresa said it herself, she tried to go through the proper channels and they all laughed at her. We are her last hope!" Kaira exclaimed, getting heated at Nate. "I agree with Kaira." Sophie said. "Well, why don't you write her a check?" Nate questioned. Kaira got a disgusted look on her face. "Maybe I will if it comes to that." Sophie said, serious. She sighed. "Wow. I really thought you'd get this, Nate. Teresa just doesn't want to get paid. She wants the man who destroyed her family to pay." Sophie said. Kaira agreed. "You know, if it doesn't come from him, if he's not hurt by it in some way, then there's - there's no justice." Sophie continued. "Sophie-" Nate said, putting his hand on his face, annoyed. "Just take the mob out of it." Hardison said. "What? Take the mob out of it?" Nate questioned. "Hear me out. Isn't this just a breach of contract?" Hardison asked. "These guys had a deal, right? And your boy, Ray, he lived up to his end, but Moscone didn't. For that, there's not a court of law in this world this lady can go to." Eliot explained. "Which is exactly the kind of case we take." Parker said. Nate looked annoyed. "Oh, come on. I don't - why Teresa?" Nate questioned Sophie. Kaira was confused. "I don't know." Sophie said. She paused for a moment. "Well, her man's gone to jail for 15 years, and she's waiting for him... for 15 years. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wait for someone?" Sophie said, kinda quiet. In that instant, Kaira knew what she was talking about... it was Nate. "Yeah." Kaira whispered. Eliot looked at her in understanding. He knew too. Nate then stood up, also realizing what Sophie meant. "Yeah, okay, let's go rob Nicky Moscone - a guy who kills people and lives in our city. Yeah, let's do that." Nate said, frustrated. "All the more reason to take him down." Kaira said. Nate walked away. The team got up to leave. Kaira took Sophie aside. "Sophie, I do know what it's like waiting for someone. I waited for Eliot for four years." Kaira said, a sympathetic smile. Sophie gave her a thankful smile and walked away. Kaira joined Eliot as they drove to Moscone's mansion.</p><p>Nate looked through the binoculars. "Typical mob McMansion. They've got the hideous gates, infinity pool, statues everywhere." Nate said. He handed the binoculars to Hardison. Nate sighed. "How are we gonna handle surveillance?" Nate asked. Hardison lowered the binoculars. "We can't. That thing's a fortress, man. I clocked four armed guards, a Tikva security system. That thing's Israeli made. It's used to protect their military bases. It's unhackable. Oh, and then there's the FBI parked around the corner." Hardison said. Kaira got an idea. "FBI? Where?" Parker questioned, looking through a camera. Hardison moved the camera for Parker. "See that crappy van that says plumber?" Hardison asked. Parker confirmed she saw it. Kaira did too. "Did you say plumber? That's there cover? Oh, that is so cute. It's like it's 1978 all over again." Sophie questioned, almost embarrassed for the FBI guys. "Listen, you can't just walk into a place like that blind." Eliot said. "Oh, yeah, that's true." Nate said. "If we can't get our surveillance the typical way, let's borrow theirs." Kaira said, reading Nate's mind. Hardison and Parker changed into FBI gear and went over to the van. "Huh. How did he know that?" Sophie questioned, referring to Hardison saying about the memo they sent being moved up the chain. "Oh, the field guys are always sending memos. They just need validation." Nate answered. "Nathan everyone wants validation." Kaira said. Eliot was at the laptop when Parker got the FBI badge clearances from both agents so him and Kaira could get the files for the Moscone case. Hardison also helped the FBI out by plugging a USB into the recorder to clear the comms up. They also had a single bug in the barbecue. Kaira knew they had to help the FBI guys out. "I got it!" Eliot reported, getting the badges. "Right there." Eliot said, putting both his and Kaira's faces on the badges so they could get in. Parker and Hardison exited the van and went back to the office.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot changed into FBI outfits with the badges and went into the FBI office to find the Moscone case files. "You know, cowboy, I like the hair up on you." Kaira flirted, giving him a smile. "Thanks. I like it when you get dressed up for a job. Though did you have to wear the lipstick that drives me crazy?" Eliot smiled at her. "Why not?" Kaira retorted. She had on a light red lipstick, which went well with her complexion. They walked into the offices and got past security. "We're in. Guide us." Eliot said into the comm. Eliot and Kaira walked to the server room. "Okay, I found the server with the Moscone surveillance files. Room 718." Hardison reported. "Got it. Heading there now." Kaira said. They found the room and walked in. "All you have to do is rip them on my flash drive and run." Hardison explained. Eliot shut the door behind them. "I don't have to type anything, right?" Eliot questioned. "No, just plug it in. It does the rest." Hardison explained. "Pretty nifty." Kaira complimented. "All right, cause you know I just learned the photoshop thing you told me." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled. "Baby steps, cowboy." Kaira joked. Kaira and Eliot went to unlock the cabinet. "So I just plug it in." Eliot said. Eliot opened the door. It was a bunch of cassette tapes. Kaira was silent, dumbfounded along with Eliot. "Now, audio files, they can take a little while to run, but, uh, the servers are pretty loud, so that should give you some cover." Hardison explained. "Son of a bitch! Hardison, it's not audio files. The files are on cassette tapes." Kaira reported, upset. "Wha - hold - wait, did you - you just say tapes?" Hardison questioned, surprised. "She just said tapes!" Eliot exclaimed. "Cassette tapes?" Hardison questioned. Eliot started hitting the USB against the cassette tape. "Your - your little thing, it's not gonna work." Eliot said, agitated. "But at least you ain't got to type nothing." Hardison reported. "Hardison, how are we supposed to walk out of the FBI offices with a box of surveillance tapes?" Kaira questioned, thinking of a way out. "Punch somebody." Hardison said. "Oh... I'm gonna punch somebody." Eliot threatened. "Settle down, cowboy. We'll think of something." Kaira said. Just then the fire alarm went off. "Thank you." Kaira said. Her and Eliot grabbed boxes and put the tapes in them. "You're welcome." Hardison said. "Was that so hard?! Why couldn't you have just done that off the bat?" Eliot questioned, upset. They finished packing up the tapes and walked out of the offices. They arrived back at the Leverage offices and Hardison listened to 74 hours worth of cassette tapes before he finally found something.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot changed back into their civilian outfits. They met up in the meeting room. They sat down as Hardison walked in with his laptop. "How was it?" Parker asked Hardison. "You try listening to 74 straight hours of surveillance of the mob on a Walkman." Hardison said, getting the audio pulled up on his laptop. "Okay, what'd you learn?" Nate asked. "Well, first of all, uh, how great Jersey Boys is there. They are fantastic. Really, man, they -" Hardison ranted before Nate cut him off. "No, what did you learn about where Moscone keeps his money?" Nate questioned. Hardison clicked his remote and pulled up a picture of a woman on screen. "Keeps it in offshore accounts under his wife's name, Heather, to protect it from the Feds." Hardison explained. "Can you break the codes?" Nate asked. "The codes? The codes to the Cayman Bank and Trust, where the Cali Cartel and African dictators keep all their dirty money? T-The ones that Moscone changes anytime he damn well pleases? Like, it's - come on. Dude, a-are you kidding me?" Hardison said, indicating he can't. "You know, you're - you're very negative lately." Nate said. "Yeah." Eliot said. Kaira just rolled her eyes. "And the sass, it doesn't - doesn't help." Nate said. "Where does Moscone keep his liquid assets?" Kaira asked. "Okay, I took a number of daily deliveries his capos make to the house, and cross-referenced them with his declared income and his spending habits. I'd say he's got at least two million stashed right here." Hardison explained, switching the pictures. "So we're back at the beginning. Um... all we need is a - is a way in, right?" Nate said. "This guy. Me and Kaira could hit one of the bagmen before they get in. Roll the dice on a big payout." Eliot suggested. "Or we could tunnel from the neighbors." Parker suggested. Nate looked back at the picture which showed Heather talking to two people in uniforms. "What's going on here? What's with- "Nate questioned before Hardison went to explain. "Oh, uh, he's just putting up a tent for Moscone's daughter's wedding. It's happening this weekend. There's a lot of conversations between him and the wife about that." Hardison explained. "Let's hear one." Sophie said. Hardison pulled up the audio file. This was the conversation. "I am overwhelmed! I need help!" Heather exclaimed. "Overwhelmed! You're the one who wanted this huge fiasco!" Nicky exclaimed. "No, no. No. For your daughter." "I told you, I don't want people in my house." "Yeah, unless it's your skank yoga instructor, then it's fine, huh?" Kaira tried her best to keep a straight face. "Skanky yoga instructor?" Nicky questioned. "Can't even touch your toes." Heather yelled. "It's a bit like an opera, isn't it?" Sophie questioned, amused. "You mean cause I want to run away?" Eliot said. "Well, now, if that isn't an invitation, I don't know what is." Nate said. "Well, the obvious thing is to have all of us go in as an event organizer company. Sophie, you're the manager, Hardison can be the DJ, that way he can have his laptop for surveillance, Eliot can be the caterer, Parker the seamstress, and I'll be Sophie's assistant. Oh, and Nate can be the minister." Kaira suggested. The team agreed and they left to go to the Moscone mansion the next day.</p><p>They rang the doorbell and Heather opened the door. "Mrs. Moscone? Ruby Holden and Elena Drake- Peerless Events. Your wedding planners." Sophie said, handing her a card. "What? I didn't hire a wedding plan-" Heather was saying before Kaira cut her off. "Your husband hired us. He didn't tell you?" Kaira said, showing a confused look to Sophie to act like she didn't know that. "Said something about you being overwhelmed." Sophie said. "Oh. Well, uh, Ms., uh..." Heather said, looking at the card. "You can call me Ruby." Sophie said. "And you can call me Elena." Kaira said, offering a smile. "Ruby, Elena - that's cute. How shall I put this? Uh, everyone, I've hired for this wedding - the caterer, the florist, the band - is a friggin' moron. But I'm gonna have to live with it because the wedding is two days away. And frankly, I don't see how you can come in and magically fix everything. What are you two - Mary Poppins?" Heather said, unamused. "Well, We do have a little help." Sophie said, moving to reveal the rest of the team. They walked in and got to work. Kaira walked around, helping Hardison place mics everywhere to record the conversations at the wedding and to look for potential hiding places for the money. Kaira went into the kitchen and met with Eliot. He was cutting up some green onion for the dish he was making. "That smells amazing, babe." Kaira complimented. "Thank you. I'm making some stuffed mushrooms with pine nuts and basil. I'm also pan-searing scallops and gonna devein some shrimp." Eliot said, still cooking. "Need my help with anything?" Kaira asked. "Yeah. I made a couple of the stuffed mushrooms. Can you try one?" Eliot asked. Kaira shook her head yes as Eliot grabbed a mushroom for her to taste after putting lemon juice on it. Kaira grinned. "That tastes amazing, cowboy. Remind me to have you cook for me more often." Kaira smiled flirtatiously at Eliot. He smiled. "I'm glad you like it. Do you mind checking the kitchen for the money? If I'm gonna make enough food for everyone, I can't search for the money." Eliot said, looking at his girlfriend. "Sure thing, cowboy." Kaira said. Kaira opened up the cupboards first, checking for false backs and careful not to move any of Eliot's ingredients. Kaira then checked the drawers and looked for false bottoms, careful of moving the utensils. She was about to check the island Eliot was cooking on when Nate walked in, dressed as a Priest.</p><p>"How we doing? How's the search?" Nate asked. "I haven't started yet." Eliot said. "I looked around the kitchen. I haven't found the money yet." Kaira reported. "Okay, you know, I haven't gotten one answer I was looking for today." Nate said, unamused, walking to the other side of Eliot. Nate saw that Eliot was cutting onion. "What is that you're doing? What's going on?" Nate asked, curiously. "I'm cutting onion, deveining shrimp, uh, pan-searing some scallops. I got 200 people I got to feed, all right? Back off." Eliot said, getting irritated. Kaira placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Okay, okay. Hmm." Nate said, almost surprised how well Eliot seemed to understand the food. "What, you think the only thing I know how to do is bust heads?" Eliot asked. Kaira chuckled. "No - well, yeah." Nate admitted. "Look, hold a knife like this, cuts through an onion." Eliot said, holding the knife above his hand and making a saw motion. He then flipped the knife so it faced out. "Hold a knife like this, cuts through, like, eight yakuza in four seconds. Screams, carnage. People are like knives. Everything's in context." Eliot said. Kaira was about to look at the island again for the money when Heather busted in. "Okay, hors d'oeuvres." Heather said, like she was expecting a report. "Yes, ma'am. Stuffed mushrooms, pine nuts, a kiss of basil, some sun dried tomatoes, and..." Eliot topped off the mushroom with some lemon juice before giving it to Heather to try. She took a bite. "The finishing touch - lemon juice." Eliot finished. Heather spit it out towards the sink. Eliot had a disapproving face, and Kaira tried to hide her 'if looks could kill' face. "Does this look like a food court? Does it? I want high end food - high end! What are you..." Heather said, disappointed before leaving. Eliot grabbed the knife like he was gonna stab her, which Kaira couldn't blame him, but Nate grabbed his arm. "I know." Eliot growled. "Hey, just - find the money. That's why we're here - to find the money." Nate said before leaving. Kaira finished looking in the kitchen and kissed Eliot goodbye. She met up with Hardison and helped him finishing placing the mics everywhere. Kaira heard Sophie and Parker meet up with Heather to discuss the bridesmaid's dresses. Parker was unsympathetic and basically told the one bridesmaid she was fat. Kaira felt bad as she went up and comforted the poor girl and kicked Parker out for the moment. After consoling the bridesmaid, Cindy, she met up with Parker. "Parker, that was rude. If you are gonna do this, you need to at least pretend you care. You can't be telling people what they don't want to hear. Especially on this job." Kaira explained. "Alright." Parker said, walking away. Kaira rolled her eyes. "Parker. Promise me you'll be nicer and apologize to Cindy." Kaira warned. "I will." Parker said, not really wanting to hear it. Kaira gave up and continued walking around, looking at the various rooms left unchecked. "I checked the library and the maid's room. No sign of the money. Now we need to focus. We only have one day left before we-" Nate reported on comms before getting interrupted by Nicky. Kaira continued searching, tuning out the conversation. "Hardison, office phone. Get the feed." Nate ordered. This perked Kaira up. They continued for the rest of the day until it got late and they went back to the office and got pizza and soda.</p><p>Hardison pulled up the feed from the phone call. "Well, you tell that bastard if he wants that money so bad, I'll give it to him at the reception, huh? And he better bring Maria one hell of a gift." Nicky said in the recording. Hardison stopped it. "Okay, that means the deal is going down at the wedding, probably involving all of Moscone's available cash." Nate informed the team. "So, basically, we go in, we've got to find the money, then we've got to get it out under the noses of 200 hungry guests." Eliot said. "While we run the wedding?" Parker questioned. "Hey, we find the money. We get out before it starts. You know, I swear, I never understood the lengths people go with these things. I mean, the endless - you know, the dresses and the endless toasts and the crying. And - and, you know, it's just - it's unbelievable to me. And everyone has a role to play, right? And the bride and groom at the end of the day, they go home with a pile of cash. And if you really think about it, the whole thing is just a giant, giant, con." Nate started ranting, removing the collar of his priest outfit. The team gave him looks. Sophie worst of all. "Nathan, you do realize you were married, right? Like, you went through all that." Kaira commented. Sophie got up and paced as the team laughed a bit. "Well, aren't you romantic." Sophie quipped, leaving, a slight smile and shrug from Nathan. The team got up as Eliot and Kaira were in the kitchen area. Eliot was eating an apple, Kaira finishing her soda. "You know, despite what Nathan said, I'd still like to get married someday." Kaira said. "Oh, really?" Eliot smiled. "Yeah. I mean, the idea of being bonded through vows, the flexibility of the whole thing, it's beautiful to me." Kaira smiled. Then Hardison walked in, finishing his orange soda, then throwing away the bottle. "Yo. No way in hell I could ever get married. I mean, it's just - it's just a piece of paper. I take it neither of you been married." Hardison said. "Never got the chance." Kaira said. "No." Eliot said. "Ever come close?" Hardison asked. Kaira shook her head no. "No." Eliot said, taking another bite of apple. "What was her name?" Hardison asked. Eliot laughed a bit. "It was a girl I grew up with. But, anyway, she married somebody else, so..." Eliot said. Hardison chuckled a bit. "Hot damn - what did you do?" Hardison asked. "What did I do? I liberated Croatia." Eliot said. Eliot and Kaira left. "Oh, see, now, me, I'd have just gotten fat and opened up a comic book shop. That's you and me right there." Hardison said. Once Eliot and Kaira went out of view, Kaira slapped Eliot in the arm. Eliot flinched. "What?" Eliot questioned. "You were talking about Aimee." Kaira realized. "It was a very long time ago." Eliot said. Kaira just chuckled as they left. Then next day, everyone got ready.</p><p>Eliot finished up the food with Kaira's approval, Parker got on her bridesmaid dress and Hardison finished the electronics up, and Kaira and Sophie checked on everything. "Everyone stop what they're doing. Meet me at the southwest corner now." Nate ordered, alarmed about something. Kaira finished her walkthrough as she heard Sophie talk to the bride, Maria. Sophie also wasn't very nice about her "comforting". Kaira went in after her. "Hey, Maria. I'm sorry. My partner hasn't had the best of luck with men. I'm also sorry your mom took over your wedding. I think she means well, but she just goes overboard. Don't listen to what Ruby said. Just put your faith in the people you trust." Kaira said to her. She hugged Maria and she left to meet with Nate, running into Eliot along the way. They walked to the corner Nate told them to meet at. "What is it? I got bacon on." Eliot said. "The butcher is here." Parker said. "Does he have the baby lamb chops?" Eliot asked. "No, the Butcher of Kiev." Hardison said. Kairas face dropped. This was not good. "Think he'll recognize you?" Nate asked. Eliot went blank for a moment. "Yeah, I think he'd remember me." Eliot said. "Okay, well how is it that we know how good Jersey Boys is but we missed this somehow?" Nate questioned before Hardison interrupted him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Tone it down, brother. Okay, first of all, the sass? It's not helpful." Hardison said. "But you were listening to the tapes. How did we miss this?" Nate questioned. "Why are y'all looking at me? Okay, look, the guest list didn't raise any red flags with the Feds." Hardison said. "Like Nicky Moscone would put people's real names on the guest list." Kaira retorted. "Okay, listen, we have a world-class killer here who's going to I.D Eliot, and we are not prepared for this at all. So I am going to pull the plug. I want everyone to meet me at the van in two minutes." Nate ordered, going to leave. "I'm staying." Sophie said. Nate turned and walked back to the group. "I'm sorry, you're - you're what?" Nate questioned. "I'm staying." Sophie reiterated. "You're staying? Sophie, it's the Butcher of Kiev." Nate reiterated. "Have you ever been to Kiev? The cake maker of Kiev would whup all our ass. This is the Butcher." Hardison reiterated. "Uh-huh. Is this about fear of the Russian mob or fear of intimacy?" Sophie asked. The team groaned with disgust. "Listen, I made a promise to my friend Teresa, and I'm not gonna let her down. And that bride in there - what's her name - I'm not gonna let her down, either. So you guys can go. I'm staying. I'll do this myself if I have to." Sophie said. "Okay, fine. Sophie, Hardison, Parker, Kaira, find the money. Eliot, stay away from the Butcher. Uh, me... I have a wedding to officiate." Nate ordered as the team broke off.</p><p>Kaira stayed with Eliot in the kitchen to back him up in case the Butcher came. Parker came up as Eliot asked Kaira to grab the paprika. "Downstairs is clear. That leaves one place where the money could be stashed - screening room." Parker reported. Parker sighed. "Go." Parker said. "These peaches aren't gonna poach themselves, Parker." Eliot said. "And I have to watch his back in case the Butcher comes." Kaira said. "Sorry, Emeril." Parker retorted as she left. "What was that?" Eliot asked. "You heard me." Parker said. Kaira had to hold Eliot's arm so he didn't stab Parker. Nate finished the officiating, kinda implying his and Sophie's relationship as Parker checked the screening room. "Um... Moscone is leaving. The deal is going down now." Nate said. It was a moment before anyone spoke. "Eliot, Kaira, I got the boss and Sergei in the dining room. Where are they going?" Hardison asked. Eliot and Kaira looked out the kitchen and saw the two men unlocking the door to the screening room. "Screening room. Parker, you got the money?" Eliot asked. "Not yet." Parker said. "All right, they're on their way. Get out now." Eliot said. "Not an option." Parker said, panicking. Kaira drank a shot of liquor Eliot had out and went up to the boss. "Parker you got 2 minutes max to get out." Kaira whispered. She got his attention. "Father of the bride! I was just looking for you. This is embarrassing, but your house is like a maze. I was trying to find the bathroom and I got lost! See, I was flirting with the chef and I'm supposed to meet him in a moment for some alone time, if you get my drift, and I was gonna freshen up a bit. Next thing I know, I took a turn, and I ended up here! Can you point me in the direction of the bathroom, please?." Kaira exclaimed, acting slightly drunk. The liquor on her breathe confirming to Moscone. He pointed to the direction and Kaira thanked him. He was obviously uncomfortable. He turned away. "Parker time's up." Kaira said, working her way back to the kitchen. Eliot looked at her. "Seriously?" Eliot wasn't happy. "What? Parker needed the time, I had to improvise." Kaira defended herself. "Yeah, but us meeting later to do a little hanky panky? You couldn't think of anything else?" Eliot questioned. "What? We're gonna do that anyway, so." Kaira gave Eliot a grin as he got uncomfortable and the team groaned. It was silent for a second. "Money gone. Sergei not happy." Parker whispered. She was still in the room. "Parker, I said get out!" Kaira exclaimed, not happy. "Yeah, keep a lid on things until I figure out what happened." Nate said. Kaira and Eliot waited for more instruction.</p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, get to the screening room right now." Nate ordered. As Eliot and Kaira rounded the corner, The Butcher and his goons rounded their corner. They got spotted. Eliot and Kaira went to go the other way, but the goons stopped him. The Butcher pulled out a cleaver. "Going somewhere, my friend, huh?" The Butcher said. The one goon went to punch Eliot, who dodged it and quickly took him down as The Butcher removed his jacket. The other goon went after Kaira as The Butcher went after Eliot. Kaira fairly quickly took down the goon as she went to help Eliot with The Butcher. "Hardison, Moscone and Sergei are leaving through the northwest exit." Parker reported as Kaira punched the Butcher. The couple used various utensils to try to disarm The Butcher. He pushed Kaira into the cupboard and started choking Eliot. Kaira jumped on The Butcher's back, putting pressure on his neck. Kaira saw Eliot use the rolling pin to move the tray of appetizers towards him and Kaira took that as the signal to get down. Eliot pushed the appetizer soaked with lemon juice in The Butcher's eyes, causing him to fall down and scream in pain. Kaira grabbed the tray and smacked him over the head with it, knocking him out. "It's the lemon juice." Eliot said. Kaira and Eliot checked each other for any major injuries. Luckily, they had none, just some bruises and cut lips. Kaira and Eliot laughed as they realized what they had done. Then Nate moseyed in. He stopped when he saw The Butcher laying on the ground. "Did you just kill a guy with an appetizer?" Nate questioned. "I don't know, maybe." Eliot said. Kaira smiled. "Hell yeah we did." Kaira exclaimed, way too excited. Parker was talking with Hardison as the trio in the kitchen went to grab the money from the screening room. Nate put it in a duffel bag and handed Eliot a set of car keys. Kaira heard Parker say through comms that she got out of the screening room by pulling the exact same stunt Kaira did. "There it is. There you go." Nate said. The keys jangled as Kaira grabbed them. "Put it in the trunk." Nate ordered. "This car?" Kaira questioned. "Do it." Nate ordered, passing the duffel to Eliot. Kaira and Eliot left as Nate walked away. "Hardison, we've got to end the wedding now. Get Adam and Maria out immediately." Nate ordered. Eliot and Kaira went to go outside to put the money in the trunk of the car as Hardison told the crowd that there was a storm brewing in the Rockies and that Adam and Maria had to go if they were gonna make it to Kansas safely. Sophie caught up with Heather as Nate informed Mr. Moscone and his friends that Sergei and Heather set him up.</p><p>Nate, Kaira, and Eliot rendezvoused at the kitchen, Nate pouring them bourbon. Kaira took small sips which helped with her achy muscles. Then Nicky came in. "Where's my wife?" He asked. "Your wife - she's gone." Nate said, pouring himself a drink. Then Moscone left. Parker came up the stairs. "Where's the cash?" Parker asked. Then Sophie came around the corner. "Yeah, where's Teresa's money?" Sophie asked. Nate turned around as Hardison joined them. "Oh, Nate, what have you done this time?" Sophie asked, nagging. "Ah. Wait for it." Nate said, holding up his index finger. Just then, the light on the phone for the library lit up as Nate picked it up. He beckoned for Hardison as Hardison wrote down something on his hand. "You know all those offshore accounts that Moscone has, you know, the ones in Heather's name? Well, now that she's blown town. Guess who's on the phone changing the passwords. Can you do anything with those?" Nate explained, looking at Hardison. "Oh, I can do everything with them." Hardison answered. "Wait, wait, wait. I-I still don't understand. What happened to the cash?" Sophie asked, still confused. "Oh, the cash. Well..." Nate said. "Eliot and I put it in the newlywed's trunk." Kaira answered. Sophie walked up to Nate. "So, padre, a wedding's just a big con, huh?" Sophie questioned smugly as Parker and Sophie walked away. Kaira and Eliot stayed to finish of their glass of bourbon. Hardison was eating the food Eliot made. "I never said there was anything wrong with that." Nate said, taking another sip of bourbon. "Let's go." Nate said, setting down his glass. Eliot and Kaira walked by Hardison. "This is pretty good, man." Hardison complimented, looking at the hitter. "Thanks, man. I squeezed, like, fresh lemon juice on it." Eliot said, walking away hand in hand with Kaira, who was smiling. "Cool. Cool." Hardison said, following them. After Hardison left Moscone with five dollars in his account and Nate handed him the bible, they met at the restaurant that Teresa and her husband owned.</p><p>They used the money from the account to buy the place for Teresa and Ray. Sophie left to go get Teresa as the rest of the gang put the finishing touches on the place as Eliot started cooking. Sophie told the gang she was almost there so they turned the lights out and sat down. Sophie turned the lights on. "Surprise!" The gang yelled. Teresa was shocked as everyone laughed. Sophie handed Teresa the keys. "It's all yours." Sophie said. "I don't know what to say." Teresa said, still processing everything. Sophie hugged her. "Give me a hug." Sophie said. Sophie told Teresa to sit down with her daughter. "I wish Ray were here to see this." Teresa said. Kaira grinned. "Wait for it." Hardison said. He had his laptop out and pulled up a news video. He turned the laptop towards Teresa and her daughter. The news video said that due to a confession, Ray's lawyers were filing for appeals and Moscone was gonna go to prison for the murder Ray took the fall for. "I thought you couldn't. How?" Teresa questioned. Kaira then remembered the mic Hardison put in Parker's flower on her dress. It caught Moscone admitting to the murder. Kaira thought the FBI guys were so excited when that happened. Teresa turned to her daughter. "Daddy's coming home." She said. Eliot then came out with a big plate of spaghetti and more food. He had a blue muscle shirt on as he sat down. The team started laughing and talking as Kaira tried to hide the fact she was turned on by her boyfriends outfit. They all celebrated, drank, and ate throughout the night until it got late and Teresa had to get her daughter home. Kaira helped Eliot clean up. She was at the kitchen scrubbing the dishes when Eliot walked over and hugged her from behind. Kaira giggled as Eliot kissed her neck. "Eliot, I'm trying to clean the dishes, stop." Kaira kept giggling. Eliot placed another kiss on her neck. "I saw the way you looked at me when I came out with the food." Eliot teased. "The muscle shirt really looks good on you." Kaira smiled. She finished up the dishes and turned around and grabbed a towel to dry her hands. Eliot held her as he kissed her lips. "Do you remember during the wedding when I told you off for saying that me and you were meeting up for some alone time, and you said that we were gonna have some alone time anyway." Eliot teased. Kaira smiled, knowing exactly where this was going. "Yes." Kaira responded. "I'd say let's get some alone time." Eliot said, kissing Kaira. "At home, cowboy." Kaira said. Eliot exhaled, planting one more kiss on his girlfriend's lips. Once the restaurant was cleaned, everyone went home. Eliot and Kaira as soon as they got to their bedroom, started making out, falling on the bed. Let's just say the alone time they had went pretty well.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Did you get the reference with Kaira's wedding planner alias? Comment if you did.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Mile High Job (1x8)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team's latest job is to gather evidence that a company, Genogrow, paid off researchers so they wouldn't testify at the trial for a young couple who lost their daughter after being exposed to the companies fertilizer. When the team discovers that the assets are on a plane, they get on it. But when things take a turn for the worst, it's up to Hardison to save everyone from 3,000 miles away.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot were eating breakfast and talking when Nate called the team in for a new client. Eliot and Kaira got changed. He put his hair in a half ponytail, which Kaira loved on him. "Love the hair, babe." Kaira told him. He planted a kiss on her lips as they exited. "Thanks. You look amazing as always." Eliot said. Kaira smiled as they got in the car and arrived at the headquarters. They sat down as the couple told their story. "Allen Haldeman laughed us out of his offices." The woman said. "They said there was no way to link the fertilizer in the water to Ashley's death." The man said. "Because of her preexisting condition." Nate clarified. "She had a thyroid problem. But that had nothing to do with her lungs, her heart. And they found these... masses in her chest, and..." The woman said, her voice breaking. "Our doctor testified, but Genogrow trotted out all these experts..." The man said, comforting the woman. "Who were paid to say exactly what Haldeman wanted them to." Sophie said, interrupting the couple. "It's not about the money. I mean, people like Haldeman, they need to know that they can't get away with this. They need to pay." The woman said. "The problem is, our attorney doesn't think we can win." The man said. "Burden of proof. You need evidence that Genogrow knew exactly what could happen if the fertilizer was leaked into the water supply." Nate said. "We've been trying to get access to their research reports, but their lawyers keep stonewalling. Trade secrets, they said." The man said. "Which means Genogrow has something to hide. Something we can use to give to your lawyer and takedown Genogrow. We're gonna find it." Kaira said. The couple thanked the team as they planned for an early run on the headquarters to see what they'd dig up.</p><p>When they went to go to the building, Hardison never showed up. Just Nate, Sophie, Kaira, Eliot, and Parker. Sophie distracted the security guards as Parker let the rest of the gang went in. "Okay, our man - Allan Haldeman, C.E.O - 30th floor." Nate said, looking at his phone. They walked to the elevator and pushed the up button, but it didn't work. "They're locked down - security timer." Parker informed the team. "We need a key card." Nate said. "And I hate to say it, but you know who we could really use-" Eliot was saying before Nate cut him off. "Don't even say his name. I don't want it spoken aloud." Nate warned. They followed Nate to the stairwell. "Target's on the 30th floor." Parker reiterated. "You don't really expect us to - okay yep we are." Kaira said as Nate opened the door to the stairs. They went up all 30 floors, Parker being the one not breathing hard. They saw the door had a key card swipe. "Great. Another key card." Eliot complained. "I'm gonna kill him." Parker said. "Not if I get to him first." Nate said. "You won't get the chance." Kaira said, not happy with you know who. "Okay, Parker." Nate cued up Parker to place a bomb and sat the timer for 5 seconds as they ran down the steps. They went through the hole and went to Haldeman's office. Parker picked the lock as they went in, flashlights in hand. "Corner office." Parker said as they went in. Nate went to the computer. "Let's see here." Nate said, typing. Parker and Kaira looked through files as Eliot kept watch. "So, we're looking for some kind of paper trail?" Parker questioned. "Safety studies research data - anything that they knew the fertilizer was unsafe prior to releasing it." Nate explained before Kaia cut him off. "Or something that proves Haldeman paid off experts who knew the fertilizer was unsafe." Kaira added. Parker hopped on the laptop. "Come on, come on." Nate rushed Parker to try to get the computer to boot up faster. "I'm going as fast as I can, okay? This thing's taking forever to boot up." Parker said. Kaira moved over to the laptop to look.</p><p>"Hello, hey, hey, hey! Hey, guys. W-what's up?" Hardison said, finally getting on comms. Kaira had a calm anger to her. "Hardison, I'm gonna kick your ass next time I see you, you asshole. You don't bail on your crew!" Kaira exclaimed, showing she wasn't happy with Hardison. "Please don't." Hardison said, pleading almost. "Where are you?" Nate asked. "I'm at the office. What happened - there was a thing - m-my electricity went out." Hardison claimed. "I swear, when I see you -" Eliot said before stopping. Eliot flashed his flashlight on the trio at the computer. "We got company." Eliot said. "Okay, I'm hacking into their security system." Hardison said. "Visual range in ten seconds." Eliot said. They got into hiding places. Kaira and Eliot hid beside the copier, staying silent. Haldeman was on the phone saying about assets on a plane to the Cayman Islands and went into his office. They stood up. "Hardison, you get that?" Nate whispered. "Assets and a flight to the Caymans? He's liquidating." Hardison said. "Fire walling. He's gonna bankrupt the whole agricultural division." Nate continued whispering. "If that part of the company ceases to exist, it'll become a mess of creditors." Hardison said. "Wiping any chance the clients have of winning their lawsuit." Kaira whispered, walking to the door. "We got to get on that plane." Nate said. "All he said was the plane leaves in an hour, and the airport's all the way across town. Even if traffic's good, we're still-" Eliot said before Nate cut him off. "These people killed a kid, all right? They killed a bunch of kids. There's no way in hell we're gonna let them get away with it. We are going to get on that flight." Nate said. "Hardison, can you help us with navigation?" Kaira asked. "If it means I don't get my ass beat from you, then yeah." Hardison said. "All right." Eliot said. Nate opened the door to reveal Parker. "So, what are we waiting for?" Parker said, leaving. "How does she do that?" Eliot asked. "I don't even ask anymore." Nate said, leaving with Eliot and Kaira. They walked down the hall.</p><p>"Don't bother with the stairs. I got you a ride down." Hardison said. "Oh, so we're kissing asses now. Great." Kaira joked, getting in the elevator. "Is it working?" Hardison half-joked. "Still haven't decided yet." Kaira said. Hardison groaned as Eliot smiled at Kaira. They exited the elevator. When they got close to the service desk, Nate yelled that something was behind them and Parker said it was chasing them. The security fumbled trying to find the thing as Sophie went with them. "Come on. We got a flight to catch." Nate said. They drove to LAX and got out and started walking towards the entrance. "Hardison, we need those tickets." Nate said, impatient. "I'm working on it." Hardison said. "All right, I got two seats in first class." Hardison reported. "Okay, Sophie and I will take those." Nate said. "What I.D's have you got on you?" Hardison asked. They all looked in their pockets and started looking at the I.D's they had. "Let's see... we got, uh, Peter Davidson, Sylvester McCoy, and I have a Tom Baker." Nate said. "Ooh. I have a Baker. Sara Jane." Sophie said. "Perfect. I now pronounce you man and wife. Now go on and kiss that bride." Hardison said. Nate and Sophie put on wedding rings to match the aliases. "And now for you, Eliot." Hardison was saying before Eliot cut him off. "Hardison, I don't need a ticket. I got an Air Marshal badge." Eliot said. "What if there's already an Air Marshal on the plane?" Sophie asked. "There's only one Air Marshal per every 100 flights." Eliot explained. "Ugh. I know that's good for us, but I so wish I didn't know that." Sophie said. Kaira found her I.D. "One authority figure's good, two's better. Parker, you're about to get a day job." Nate said. "How about three? I've got a Private Investigators badge." Kaira said. "One ticket in coach coming up." Hardison said. Hardison called one of the flight attendants about a cat she had missing, and Eliot tripped over her bag, which Parker switched out the bags as Kaira acted like a concerned bystander. Parker went into the bathroom and changed as Sophie, Nate, and Kaira grabbed bags. They met with Parker outside the bathroom as they kept walking. "How did you both know there'd be an extra uniform in the bag?" Sophie asked. "Everyone knows flight attendants are required to carry extra uniforms in case they get called in to work unexpectedly." Nate explained. "Or if something happens to the one that they're already wearing." Eliot continued explaining. "How does everyone know that?" Sophie asked. "Worked airport security." Nate said. "Slept with a flight attendant." Eliot said at the exact same time as Nate. Kaira smiled and scoffed. They went through security. Kaira and Eliot went through with no problems. Sophie had apparently grabbed Nate's luggage that had, uh, toys, in it (God, that was embarrassing to write). Sophie's excuse was that it was a second honeymoon, and smacked Nate's ass. Kaira refrained from commenting, as she would get herself in a mess she couldn't get out of or live down. Eliot called him an idiot as he went through.</p><p>"Hardison." Nate said. "Uh... uh what's up? Yeah?" Hardison stumbled. "Are you in my chair?" Nate asked. "N-no, I - I'm not - I'm not in your - I'm at a desk - my desk - in my office, w-waiting on your call so you can tell me what I can do to help you a-a-and the team, boss. What's up?" Hardison stumbled again. "Well, you can stop now." Nate said. "Appreciate it." Hardison said. "I need you to go back to Genogrow." Nate ordered. "What for? The assets are on the plane. We grab the money, give it to the client. They don't even need to go ahead with the lawsuit." Hardison said. "We are taking the company down, Hardison. Not the EPA, us. Go back and dig up what you can. Anything related to safety studies, research documents, or evidence of bribes, find it. Find our smoking gun." Kaira ordered. Nate looked at her proud. "I'm on it." Hardison said. "And, Hardison?" Nate said. "Yeah?" Hardison questioned. "Don't forget to turn off my computer." Nate said. "Well, how in the hell..." Hardison said. Kaira followed Eliot in the plane and sat down near him. They exchanged subtle looks. Parker went through her routine, which went bad. "All right, Nate. We're here. Now what?" Eliot questioned. "Uh, yeah, well, first we have to figure out what we're looking for and who's got it. Then we have to steal it and get off the plane without anyone noticing. And we have to do that before the plane lands in... five and a half hours." Nate said. "So... business as usual, then." Sophie said. The captain got the plane off the ground as they started the flight to the Caymans. Eliot had a guy sleeping on him, which he shoved to the other side. "Want me to sit in his seat, cowboy?" Kaira flirted a bit. "Please I am literally begging you." Eliot said. He woke the guy up and asked if he could move to where Kaira had been seated. She sat down next to Eliot and they looked at each other, scanning the surroundings for anything. It was a habit. Parker showed that her people skills need work when she talked to a passenger and was rude. "Parker, I've told you before you have to be nicer to people on these jobs." Kaira said. "Ugh, why can we still hear her, anyway? I thought these things would stop working once we were in the air." Sophie said. "Your welcome. If you're curious, I hacked from the plane's wi-fi connection and piggybacked our signal onto it. The comms will work as long as you guys stay on this side of the atmosphere." Hardison explained. "Thank you. Just keep us posted on what you find at Genogrow." Kaira said. Her and Eliot held hands on the arm of the chair, exchanging flirty glances at each other. "Hardison, where are you?" Nate asked. "About to head in." Hardison answered. "What's your plan? Do you need Parker to walk you through-" Nate asked before Hardison cut him off. "Don't worry about it. I got this." Hardison said. Kaira rolled her eyes as Eliot chuckled. Hardison made his way in. Messy, but he got in.</p><p>"This is impossible. It could be anyone." Parker said. "Not anyone. No, we can rule out the elderly, anyone with kids, everyone under 25." Nate said. "We count 14 possibles in coach." Eliot reported. "Yeah, and six more in first class." Sophie said. "That gives us 20 possibles." Kaira said. "If Haldeman's entrusting his assets to a courier, I'm guessing he's gonna pay for the extra legroom." Sophie said. "So we should focus on carry-on. No one checks bags full of cash." Nate said. "Might not be cash." Parker said. "What's it gonna be, Parker? Gold bars? They don't exactly travel well." Eliot quipped. "No, Parker has a point. We could be looking at travelers checks or bearer bonds. Just something paper that packs light." Kaira explained. "Exactly, Kaira." Nate said. "Got it." Eliot said. He got up as he checked the carry on compartment. Parker was throwing snacks on people as she checked coach. Kaira glared at Parker. "Parker." Kaira warned. Parker glared at her and Eliot as they finished looking through the bags. Kaira got up and looked through the stuff above her seat compartment. Someone glared at her, wondering what she was doing. "Sorry. I could've sworn my boyfriend put my meds in his bag before we left earlier. Trying to find his bag." Kaira brushed them off. Hardison was talking with a woman at Genogrow and revealed why he wasn't at the job earlier. "Hardison. You bailed on the job because you were up all night playing a game?" Nate questioned. Kaira groaned a bit. "First off, game is hardly adequate, okay?" Hardison quipped, whispering. "Have you even gotten into Haldeman's office, or have you found a way to screw that up, too?" Nate said. "I'll figure something out." Hardison said. "You can't skate by on talent and luck forever." Nate said. "What's up with everyone being grumpy on this job? Do ya'll need to get laid or something. Well, besides Eliot. I know he's getting laid." Kaira said, smugly as Eliot got flustered. "Real mature." Nate said, unamused. Kaira helped a still flustered Eliot calm down. "Woman, I did not just hear you say that." Hardison said, uncomfortable. "Yeah, I did." Kaira quipped, whispering. "Ya'll are nasty." Hardison said. "What? At least I'm getting laid." Kaira retorted as Hardison groaned. "Please, focus, Kaira. Keep that stuff off the comms." Nate ordered, trying to bring everyone in line. "Sorry, boss." Kaira said. Hardison faked a meeting and got into Haldeman's office.</p><p>"Hatbox full of Euros, pouch of uncut diamonds, and a stolen Stradivarius. Now, I've never lifted one of those." Parker said. "Parker..." Nate was about to scold Parker when Sophie started talking. "This is insane. Between the five of us, we've found millions of dollars of merchandise. None of it belongs to Genogrow." Sophie said, surprised. "Cayman Islands - thieves holiday. Go for the tan, stay for the tax shelter. Haldeman's not the only bad guy doing business there." Nate said. Kaira and Eliot were still in their seats. "Guys, I got something. I've been cross-checking the flight's passenger manifest with Genogrow's company roster. I got two hits - Dan Erlick, head of security, ex-Navy Seal. Been with the company for the last six years. And Marissa Devins, an accountant. She's only been with the company about ten months. Weird thing is, they're not seated together. I mean, Erlick is in first class, the accountant's in coach." Hardison informed them. Kaira was thinking. "Well, it could just be a coincidence they're on the same flight." Sophie said. "Then how come both seats were paid for by the same corporate credit card at the exact same time?" Hardison questioned. "Divide and conquer. Okay, Erlick's in first class, Sophie and I will take him. Seems likely he's our guy. Parker stay with the accountant, just in case." Nate ordered. "Nate, can we at least take the diamonds?" Sophie asked. "Sophie..." Nate was about to answer before Hardison spoke. "Sending their photos to your phones now." Hardison said. "Okay." Nate said. Parker exhaled. "Is there a problem?" Nate questioned Parker. "No." Parker said. Parker handed the girl a towel and figured out that Devins didn't know Dan and that she was on a business trip, and that no one told her anything. Sophie and Nate faked an argument near the bar and Sophie flirted with Dan a bit. "I hacked into Erlick's phone records. And he did call Haldeman right before takeoff, so your theory fits." Hardison said. "Uh-huh, but?" Nate questioned, sensing the bad part.</p><p>"But it's this accountant that's got me curious. I'm standing outside her office right now. I think this woman knows more than she's supposed to." Hardison concluded. "You know, when we heard that Haldeman had assets on the plane, we assumed it was currency." Nate said before Kaira jumped in after realizing what Nate was getting at. "What if a person was the asset?" Kaira questioned, finishing Nate's idea. "Okay, but.. then that means..." Hardison said before Nate cut him off. "That Marissa Devins is the asset they're liquidating." Nate sighed. Nate, Parker, and Sophie met at the back of the plane. "I think we should tell her." Sophie suggested. "No way. That woman's already paranoid-crazy. We tell her there's a bounty on her head, and she's gonna lose it." Parker said. "I think she has a right to know. Anyway, if Haldeman's going to this much trouble, then she must have something - some information that could help us help our client. She's our smoking gun." Sophie said. "Mmm. Okay. Tell her." Nate said. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Parker said. "No, not you - Eliot and Kaira. They've got badges - it makes the story more credible." Nate ordered. Kaira and Eliot looked at each other and got up to where Marissa was seated. Eliot and Kaira flashed their badges discreetly. "Excuse me, ma'am. I'm a U.S. Air Marshal." Eliot said to her quietly. "And I'm a private investigator. Could you come with us, please?" Kaira asked, giving a reassuring smile. Kaira and Eliot guided her to first class. They got stopped by a flight attendant. Eliot flashed his badge and let them through. They sat down in the back of first class. "I need you to tell us about Genogrow. Your boss is a Mr. Allen Haldeman, right?" Eliot asked Marissa. "And he sent you on this trip?" Kaira asked. "Yeah, a-after I noticed some accounting irregularities in our agricultural chemistry division." Marissa said. "What kind of irregularities?" Eliot asked. "Safety studies - one of the new fertilizers that the company launched last year. See, the checks were cut, but there was never any confirmation that the studies were actually completed. And some of the payments to the researchers were - abnormally large." Marissa explained. "And you brought this up with Haldeman?" Kaira asked. "He assured me it was a process error. That's why I'm here - to audit the offshore accounts and then correct it." Marissa explained. "Hush money." Eliot said. Marissa has a confused look on her face. "What?" Marissa asked. "Ms. Devins, those payments were not made in error. They were bribes. He was trying to pay off the researchers so they would not testify." Eliot explained. "What are you talking about? What the hell is going on here?" Marissa asked. Then Parker walked over and keeled down with a small can of ginger ale, which seemed to be the poor woman's drink. "The guy in 1D wants to kill you. Ginger ale?" Parker said nonchalantly as she opened the can. "Parker, how many times do I have to tell you?" Kaira whispered as Parker left.</p><p>Kaira took the panicked woman over to where Sophie sat as they calmed her down as Nate and Eliot talked. "Ms. Devins, we are an interested third party helping a client whose child died because of the fertilizer. They are trying to bring a civil suit against him, but they need evidence, and Genogrow isn't giving up the research reports needed. That's why the man is trying to kill you. You found the safety study that would bring who knows how many lawsuits against him. I assure you, we will protect you." Kaira explained, calming Marissa down. "So it's a hit. How does it lay out?" Nate asked Eliot. "If I was gonna do it, I'd have two guys on the ground at the gate, one guy on the plane to make sure she gets off." Eliot explained. "Well, I think it's time you introduced yourself to Mr. Erlick." Eliot ordered. Eliot walked past. "Be careful, cowboy." Kaira said. "I always am." Eliot said. "So you and the Marshal, huh?" Marissa questioned, half smiling. "Yeah. Known him for four years now." Kaira said. "How long have you two been going out?" Marissa asked. "Just about a month." Kaira answered. Marissa smiled as Sophie and Kaira continued to comfort her. "Hardison?" Nate said through comms. "Yeah, boss?" Hardison answered. "I want Haldeman's hard drive. Grab it and get out of there." Nate ordered. "I barely got him out of his office the first time. How am I supposed to -" Hardison was saying before Nate cut him off again. "Just do it." Nate ordered. Hardison managed to get into Haldeman's office again. Sophie and Kaira went to the bar and got drinks. Marissa had red wine, and Kaira and Sophie had scotch. "Marissa, you're being very brave." Sophie said, comforting the woman. "You think so?" Marissa asked, shakily. "Yes. There's no need to worry. We'll take care of you." Kaira comforted the woman. It was a second before Sophie suggested her and Marissa walk to calm down some. Kaira saw Dan follow her. "Hey cowboy, you got incoming." Kaira whispered. "Copy that Princess." Eliot said. Just as Dan walked past the bathroom, Eliot pulled him in and started fighting. After a few minutes of fighting, Eliot flushed the airplane toilet and left, and Parker put up an out of order sign.</p><p>Sophie took Marissa to her seat as Kaira went back to her seat with Nate, Sophie, and Eliot. "Everything is gonna be fine." Sophie said. "Maybe not." Hardison said, causing the gang on the plane to perk up. "I found Haldeman's laptop. You know what? He has a hidden compartment right under his desk. It's actually - it's pretty cool. It's right up under -" Hardison started ranting. "Hardison!" Nate exclaimed, bringing Hardison back in line. "Okay, um, I accessed his e-mails. A few hours ago, he made a stop payment on a fund transfer... to Dan Erlick." Hardison informed them. "The guy Eliot took out?" Kaira questioned. "And that's not all. I ran some backtrace on a few phone calls Haldeman made. Any guess as to who?" Hardison said. "How about someone in the Caymans?" Nate answered. "Bingo." Hardison confirmed. Sophie ran up to them. "Erlick's his head of security. No reason why Haldeman should be talking to these guys directly." Eliot said. "Unless... Marissa Devins is not the only one on that hit list. Haldeman is gonna take out both of them. Getting rid of the evidence and the guy in charge of covering it up." Nate said. "Erlick's a pro. He had a ceramic knife. If anything was going down, he'd sniff 'em out when he saw them coming." Eliot informed them. "How would they do it?" Nate asked. "Bring down the plane they're on." Kaira answered. "You mean bring down the plane we're on?" Sophie questioned. "Shit!" Kaira exclaimed, quietly. "Eliot, get everyone back to their seats." Kaira ordered. Eliot did just that. "There's no way Haldeman would go this far." Sophie said, shocked at what was happening. "Billions of dollars, decades of jail time." Nate said. "That'll make any man desperate enough." Kaira said, trying to keep calm. "Look, if you're right about this, we got to get this plane down on the ground right now. We have to tell the pilots." Sophie suggested. "No, we can't yet. Not until we know what Haldeman's plan is." Kaira said. "How would you get a bomb on the plane?" Nate asked Eliot. "Cargo hold, post-screening - in Erlick's bag or the accountant's luggage." Eliot said.</p><p>Parker was leaving. Kaira grabbed her hand. "Parker, look for the bomb in the cargo hold. Nate, Eliot, talk to Erlick." Kaira ordered. The boys walked to the bathroom as Kaira stayed on her seat. Eliot was heard trying to get Dan to wake up. "Let me guess, hit him too hard, cowboy?" Kaira retorted. "When I knock people out, they tend to stay out." Eliot quipped. "Figured." Kaira quipped. Eliot found a luggage tag. Eliot grabbed the knife as he left. Parker got in the luggage hold, citing a medical emergency with an asthma inhaler that needed to be found. Kaira went up to Marissa. "Marissa, what kind of bag do you have?" Kaira asked with Sophie next to her. "I don't understand. Why do you need to know what kind of bag I have?" Marissa asked. "We think Haldeman may have put something in your bag post-screening. We need to find it just to be sure." Kaira answered. "It's red with white flowers on it." Marissa answered. Parker found the bag and Erlicks. "Are you sure? It's red with white flowers." Sophie asked again. "I'm looking right at it. There's nothing in it. Same as Erlicks." Parker reported. "Hey, Parker. You got your phone on you?" Hardison asked. "Yeah, why?" Parker questioned. "Okay, now is there anything that looks like a computer interface hooked up to the plane's electrical system?" Hardison asked. It took a second for Parker to respond. "Yeah, I think so." Parker responded. "Okay, good. Good. Now I need you to find the USB port on the control panel and connect the phone to it using an A.V adapter." Hardison said. "Where am I suppose to find an adapter?" Parker asked. Kaira rolled her eyes. "Look around." Hardison answered. Parker took a sec to find the adapter. "All right, and... I'm hooked in." Parker reported. "What are you doing?" Parker asked. "Oh, I'm just remote accessing a plane's electrical system from 3,000 miles away. You know what - if you were a geek, you would be really turned on right now. I'm just saying." Hardison quipped. Kaira rolled her eyes again. "Huh?" Hardison questioned. "Huh what?" Parker questioned, unsure of the problem. "O-okay. I'm reading an electrical spike. Parker, do you see anything around that could be interfering with the signal?" Hardison asked Parker.</p><p>It was a second before Parker responded. "There's something. Looks like it's tapping into one of the conduits." Parker reported. "Where are you exactly?" Hardison asked, getting worried. This made Kaira nervous. Parker didn't respond. "Parker, the device you found - is it anywhere near an orange box?" Hardison asked. "Yeah." Parker said. "Oh, god. They tapped into the black box." Hardison said, getting anxious. "No, no, it's not black. It's orange." Parker reported, still unsure of the problem. "Yeah, the black boxes - they're orange. Makes them easier to find in the debris." Hardison explained. "Oh. Ohhh." Parker said, finally getting the problem. "They've hacked into the flight's computer, which means they have access to the system which means they can spoof the black box data all at the same time." Hardison explained. "Crash the plane without anyone knowing it was sabotaged." Parker said, getting the point. "Exactly." Hardison confirmed. It was silent for a second. "Uh, guys..." Parker said, getting their attention. Eliot and Nate went up to the cockpit. "Gentleman-" Eliot got their attention. "Whoa! What are you doing?!" The pilot asked. "This area is off limits!" The co-pilot ordered. "Listen! Listen to me! I am a U.S Air Marshal, okay? This is Tom Baker. He's an engineer. He's a consultant for the TSA." Eliot explained. Just then the plane started shaking. "The autopilot's disengaged itself! We're losing altitude!" The copilot exclaimed. People started screaming as Kaira tried to stay calm. "Sophie, are you in a seat?" Kaira asked, nervous. "Yeah." Sophie said, shaky. "Listen - someone has hacked into the navigation system. They're trying to bring the plane down. Hardison, we need you!" Nate said. "I don't - I-I-I don't know, Nate. I don't - I mean, I-I can override the software attack, but that means we would have to restart the flight's electrical system, which I have no idea how to do because my knowledge of aeronautical engineering is kind of limited to what I can pull off of Google in the next two minutes. and, brother, I don't - I mean -" Hardison explained, getting anxious. "Listen to me! You can do this! I trust you! No matter how many times you goof off or screw up, you always come through in the clutch. You're the only guy I can count on in a situation like this." Nate said, trying to convince Hardison. "Hardison, you're a genius. No one understands computers better than you do. You got this." Kaira said, trying to remain calm as the plane was still shaking and losing altitude. "You know what? You... whoo! You're right. You're right. I got this." Hardison said, pumping himself up. Kaira smiled. "Yes! Yes! Yes, you can!" Nate egged him on. "You're right. You're - I'm the man. I'm the man. I got this. I'm gonna do this." Hardison said, still pumping himself up. "Then do it already!" Parker exclaimed.</p><p>"Okay, um... Parker, Parker... can you sever all the wires between the device and the black box?" Hardison asked. "I think so!" Parker exclaimed. The pilot said the yoke of the plane was stiff. He was about to reset the system. "No, not yet!" Hardison exclaimed. "No! Not yet! Not yet! On my mark." Nate ordered. "Okay, okay. I-I got a lock on the virus. I need to get ahead of it and divert its attack." Hardison reported. The plane was dropping still. "10,000 feet and dropping fast!" The pilot reported. "Parker, as soon as the code stops cycling, sever the last wire." Hardison ordered. 9,000 feet. 8,000 feet. "Alright, my code is in the flight computer. Pull the clip!" Hardison reported. "Got it!" Parker reported. "Nate, reset... Ah-now!" Hardison exclaimed. "Okay, now!" Nate ordered. The pilot reset the computer, but the plane was still falling. The pilot said the dive was too steep. They needed to land. Nate suggested they land on the bridge ahead of them. Eliot and Nate sat down. Eliot sat next to Kaira. He buckled in and the couple squeezed each other's hand. "Eliot. If anything bad happens, I just want to say, I love you." Kaira said, looking at Eliot. "God, I love you too." Eliot said before pulling Kaira into a kiss, which Kaira gladly reciprocated. Nate checked on Sophie. She was okay. Sophie asked how Nate was. He said to wait 10 minutes and ask him again. Kaira and Eliot let go and held hands again. The plane touched down, causing the passengers to get jostled around. Hardison was freaking out. Then the plane finally came to a stop. Everyone was cheering as Kaira got her breath. She hugged Eliot, glad he was okay. She sat back down as she looked for Nate, Sophie, and Parker. They were okay. "Whoa! Whoa! Baby! Unh! A to the geek! Smooth! To smooth! Oh, Lord, I was so scared, wanted to cry, call my mama. Mm. Whew! Y'all cool? Y'all cool?" Hardison exclaimed, relieved. Kaira smiled at Nate, showing her and Eliot were okay. "Yes, cool." Nate reported back to Hardison. "Family. All right." Hardison said, relieved. "Hardison, you beautiful son of a bitch!" Kaira chuckled. She got up to exit the plane as Eliot made sure everyone was okay and got off. "Hey, I want Marissa off the plane now. Hardison, your guy's about to find out the smoking gun isn't dead. Get out of there." Nate ordered. Kaira got the message as she and Eliot walked with Marissa out of the plane. Hardison got out of Genogrow. "You guys almost died trying to help me. I wish I could help you, but all the evidence was at my office, and Haldeman took it all." Marissa said. "He didn't take it all." Nate said. Kaira chuckled. "I wish there was some way I could pay you back for everything you've done." Marissa said, grateful. "There is one thing you could do. Testify against Haldeman." Kaira said. Marissa agreed. They left and went back to the office and changed.</p><p>They were sitting at a desk as Hardison grabbed a drink. The news reported that Haldeman was arrested on attempted murder charges and conspiracy. Hardison came in as Sophie shut the laptop. "Man, I love it when a plan comes together." Hardison said, proud of himself. Kaira smiled at him as the team remained silent. "What? I said I was sorry. Hey, look, it all worked out okay. I mean, I was 3,000 miles away and still managed to save all y'all lives." Hardison said, pouring his drink. The team started getting up. "You're welcome!" Hardison exclaimed. "Thanks Hardison." Kaira smiled at him as he walked away. "Ungrateful..." Hardison said, walking away. Eliot and Kaira went home for the night. "So that job escalated quickly." Kaira chuckled. "Yeah." Eliot said, sad. Kaira went up to him. "What's wrong cowboy?" Kaira asked. "That was too close. I can't lose you, Princess." Eliot said, getting a bit emotional. "I know. I can't lose you either." Kaira said. Kaira got up and moved on Eliot's lap and kissed him, her fingers pulling his long black hair. Eliot had his fingers through her long brown hair. They fell on the bed as they started removing each other's clothes. Kaira was on top and went back to kissing Eliot. They silently agreed that they were never gonna lose each other. No matter what happened.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Snow Job (1x9)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team's latest job is a savage one. A construction company, Retzing and Sons, took a house away from a National Guardsman and his family after doing shotty work and extending the job too far. Except they discover that it's much bigger than what they thought. With Nate drunk and crazy, it's up to the team to pull him back in and complete the job before it's too late.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot got into the office. They had a new client. When they arrived, Nate wasn't there. Just Sophie, Parker, and Hardison were at the table. They grabbed a coffee and waited. Nate still never showed up. "Where the hell is he at?" Eliot asked. "Maybe he overslept." Hardison said. "No, he doesn't oversleep. This guy sets an alarm to set his alarm." Eliot said. "A man with one watch knows the time. A man with two is never sure." Parker said. "What?" Kaira questioned, still tired from the night before. "I had fortune cookies for breakfast." Parker said. Then Nate came into the meeting room. "Okay, run it." Nate said, wearing sunglasses and coffee in hand. "So, what, you had leftover Chinese for dinner?" Hardison asked. "No, just the cookies." Parker said. Nate eased into the seat. It was obvious to Kaira that he was hungover. "Do you put milk on the fortune cookies?" Hardison asked. "It's not cereal. It's a fortune cookie." Parker said. "You don't dunk it. I just-" Hardison was saying before Nate interrupted him. "Whoa, no chatter today. Just - just run it." Nate ordered. "Henry Retzing - contractor, self-made millionaire, all-around dirtbag. Now, Henry has construction contracts all over Florida, mostly residential, some commercial. But the man is as crooked as the day is long." Hardison explained. Kaira heard Sophie talk to Nate. "You okay?" She asked Nate. "Huh?" Nate said. "Are you all right?" Sophie repeated. "Oh, yeah, yeah." Nate said. "What scam did he run on the Scott's?" Eliot asked. "It's sharp. See, Retzing took the contract. He did shoddy work, and he stretched out the job. After about a year, the Scott's, like any other law-abiding folks, they just said, "okay, you know what? We're not gonna pay this guy." But when they did that, Retzing put a contractor lien on the property." Hardison explained. Kaira caught Nate taking aspirin. "So, once the Scott's ran out of money..." Eliot said. "Retzing became creditor, took ownership of the house when the bank foreclosed." Hardison finished explaining. "Slimy." Parker said. "That's just wrong." Kaira commented. "Yes, but all of it absolutely legal." Hardison said. Kaira got sidetracked with what Nate and Sophie were saying.</p><p>"Are you drunk?" Sophie asked Nate. "Technically, no. I was drunk a couple of hours ago. Now I'm just hungover." Nate said. Kaira tuned back in. "Florida Attorney General's office investigated the Retzings a few years back, but they couldn't make anything stick." Hardison said. "So, the game is, get the Scott's their house back." Parker said. "What's the way in?" Kaira asked. "The sons in Retzing and sons - Randy and Dennis. See..." Hardison was saying before Kaira got distracted by Nate and Sophie again, saying about a deal that Nate didn't remember making. "You see, Randy, the older one, he doesn't do much except snowboard and judge snowy wet t-shirt contests." Hardison said. Kaira got distracted by Nate again. "Dennis, the "Willy Wonka" worker bee - MBA from Duke. Now, his father, he's the public face of the company, but this man does all the grunt work." Hardison explained. "Oh, okay, okay. All right, so, they - they beat a state investigation, so they're smart. They have the law on their side, so they're untouchable. Or so they think." Nate chuckled getting up and going to the screen. "Randy is the sloppy one. Sophie, how's your luge?" Nate asked randomly. "My what?" Sophie questioned. "Your luge?" Nate repeated. Sophie up and left. The team got up. Kaira took Nate aside. "Never come into this room again if you're drunk or hungover." Kaira hissed. She walked away with Eliot. They went to the ski resort in Aspen, Colorado where Randy was staying at.</p><p>Sophie had a German accent as she faked a phone call about some party and sat down her wallet. Kaira and Eliot were on the lookout to watch Randy. They were in snowsuits. Randy grabbed the wallet and looked through it, looking Sophie up online. "Hansel's after Gretel." Eliot reported back. "Got it." Nate responded, who was obviously at the bar. "Sorry Ute Ausgatner." Hardison said. Randy got up to find Sophie. "It's a bar. I'm blending." Nate said. Kaira should sense the look he was getting from Sophie. "So that's what we're calling it now." Kaira said, not happy. Nate scoffed as he warned Sophie that Randy was coming. Then Randy approached Sophie and they started talking. Kaira kept watch of the conversation. Randy had an idea for an X-Games/Burning man type event he had in mind. Sophie sat down with Randy. "You know, my partners and I have just purchased this resort. Yeah, we're renovating it to be state of the art. You know, your little idea could be the perfect high profile event for the relaunch." Sophie said in her German accent. "Damn straight." Randy said, laughing. "Okay, good, good. Now ease him into the buy in." Nate said. "Of course, you'd have to buy in to your little group." Sophie said. "According to their records, they only have a couple hundred grand liquid. So, we're gonna have to just string him along. Don't push him too hard." Nate said. "How about I just write you a check for 500,000 dollars?" Randy said. Kaira got wide-eyed. "Damn." Kaira commented. "My partners would be delighted." Nate told Sophie. "My partners and I would be delighted." Sophie said. "Great. But I'll have to see the plans, talk to management." Randy said. "Of course, you want to go now?" Sophie asked. "Why not?" Randy answered. "This is good. The sooner you're happy, the sooner you write that check. Shall we?" Sophie said, getting up. "Yeah." Randy said, getting up. "Okay, let's go steal us a mountain." Nate said. Sophie walked with Randy and told him some of the plans. Eliot and Kaira made their way up to the office. "Okay, Eliot, Kaira, you're up." Nate said. Eliot and Kaira walked into the office.</p><p>"Hi. How are you?" Eliot said, shaking the guy's hand. "Hi." Kaira said. "Mike Rockman. Welcome to Powder Bear." Mike said. "Vince Fetkey and Taylor Phillips - Innovative Resort Solutions. Just don't call us the I.R.S." Eliot said, causing a laugh as Eliot hit the guy in the shoulder. "Okay, hang the lift." Nate ordered Hardison. Eliot and Kaira distracted the guy by telling him about some plans as Parker unsuccessfully tried to sell that she was in danger. "And unlike conventional fireplaces, these have marshmallow toasting rods already built-in and retractable." Eliot explained. "Brand new." Kairia said, smiling. Then Mike's cell phone rang. "Oh, excuse me for a second." Mike said. He got the call about Parker hanging off the ski lift. "Can you excuse me for just a minute?" Mike said, leaving. "Yeah. Please, take your time." Kaira said. Eliot and Kaira then got to work transforming the office so it looked like theirs. Kaira sat on Eliot's lap just as the door opened. "Whoo-hee" Sophie said. "Leena, oh." Eliot said in a German accent as Kaira got up and smiled. "Leena!" Kaira exclaimed, in a German accent. They spoke German a bit as they kissed cheeks and hugged. "Oh, Hans, Anna, this is Randy Retzing. Yeah, he's thinking about joining our little group." Sophie said. "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah." Eliot said, going to shake his hand. Randy then pulled him into a hug and lifting Eliot up a bit. "Oh, come on, dude, are you ready to rock this?!" Randy exclaimed. Kaira tried to keep a straight face as he pulled Kaira into a hug and kissed her cheek. They then sat down and looked at the plans. Hardison reported that Parker was okay. "Of course, these are just the preliminaries." Eliot said. "Awesome - just make sure to leave some room for hot tubs and the dance floor." Randy said. Eliot spoke in German. "Of course." Kaira said. "So, uh, you can, uh, write that little check now, eh?" Sophie questioned. "Hey, why can't they all be this easy?" Hardison asked. Kaira tried to stay calm to not break cover because of Hardison's comment. "Of course not. We have to go to Miami. My dad's the one who has to write the check." Randy said. "Aw, hell, why do they all got to be this hard?" Hardison said, frustrated. "Miami?" Sophie questioned. "Well, not right away. Maybe do a little Tandem luge runs. Wear the helmet." Randy said to Sophie, flirting weirdly. Eliot signaled for Sophie to go as she got a look on her face. Kaira just stood there, debating whether or not to go. Kaira just stayed as Sophie left with Randy. Kaira gave her a sympathetic look as they closed the door. "Hardison, why couldn't you keep your mouth shut?!" Kaira exclaimed, quietly upset. "What? Woman, it ain't my fault." Hardison said. "Yeah, you jinxed it!" Kaira exclaimed. She and Eliot cleaned up the office and did the blow off with Mike and left. They traveled to Miami.</p><p>Sophie and Randy met with Henry as Randy introduced Sophie to his dad. He guessed she was French, which caused a groan from Kaira. "Parker, get me some video." Nate ordered. Parker, Kaira, and Eliot sneaked around the side to get to the room. Parker shushed the couple as they winced from the feedback in their comms. As they were getting the video set up, Nate winced. "What's that?" Nate asked. "It's weird. Parker." Hardison said. Eliot was scanning with Kaira. "Signal's dirty here too." Parker reported. "Are they jamming the signal?" Nate asked. "No, the VHF output frequency is clean. For some reason, our transmission's just not getting to her." Hardison said. "Well, that's just great." Kaira retorted. "I think the interference is coming from inside the house." Eliot said. "Eliot, I need you to plant a booster - the offices are on the second floor." Nate ordered. Eliot stood firm as he boosted Parker up and then Kaira as the women shimmied to the offices. "All right, guys, they're going to the second floor. Work fast. Let's go, let's go, let's go." Nate ordered. Parker put in a USB in the laptop and planted the booster as Kaira looked around. She found mics in the room. They saw the shadows as Parker grabbed the USB. They leaped out the window. Kaira landed on Eliot as Parker rolled to cushion the fall. "Unh! Damn it, Kaira!" Elliot exclaimed, still on the ground. Kaira had rolled over. Parker stood up. "A little warning next time." Eliot growled. "I'm sorry, cowboy." Kaira kissed his cheek as she rolled back over. "How'd you even know I'd be there, Princess?" Eliot asked. "I didn't. I just trusted that you would be there like you always are." Kaira smirked. They got up and went to the car Nate and Hardison were in. "Is it working?" Eliot asked. They listened to the rest of the conversation Sophie and Dennis were having. Dennis apparently thought Sophie wanted to get into bed with Randy, which she shut down quickly, saying business-wise, she's open to opportunity. But personally, she said she preferred a man who knows what it means to be in control. Kaira gasped a bit at the unexpectedness of the words.</p><p>Just as Dennis handed the check over, he revealed some information. He revealed that they did the scam to more people than the Scott's. "They've done this to more people than the Scott's." Eliot realized. "Oh, yeah. Sophie find out how many." Nate ordered. "And how big is your operation?" Sophie asked. "Mmm, 400 homes, give or take." Dennis revealed. "400?" Sophie questioned. "Damn it." Kaira muttered. "Yeah, all over the country - tornadoes in Oklahoma, Florida hurricanes. And Katrina was like hitting the damn lottery." Dennis revealed. "All right, Sophie, do not take the check." Nate ordered. "What?" Kaira, Eliot, and Parker exclaimed. "Sorry, what?" Hardison exclaimed. "I said do not take the money." Nate ordered again. Eliot was not happy. Neither of them were happy. Sophie ripped the check. "Now you tell him this." Nate said. He told Sophie what to say. "If what you're saying is you want to do real business, then I might have an opportunity for you, but it's for serious investors only. This is not something I would ever present to your brother." Sophie said. "Interesting." Dennis said. "What are you doing?" Eliot asked, upset. "Forget about the money. No, we don't want the money. We're gonna take the company. We're gonna give each of these people back their own homes." Nate said. "You made this decision when?" Eliot asked. "All the pretty money." Parker jumped in. "I don't have to run anything by you, Eliot." Nate argued. "What, are you drunk?" Kaira asked. "No, there's nothing I have-" Nate said. Hardison tried to get their attention. "Right now, are you drunk?" Eliot asked, upset. "Shut up, shut up. Guys, the interference earlier - there's a signal coming from in there. Now the output frequency is around the 120 megahertz range, but the transmitter, the transmitter -" Hardison was explaining before Eliot cut him off. "Just cut the geek." Eliot said, impatient. "The house is bugged. Now, if I'm right, the equipment is standard issue law enforcement." Hardison answered. The team groaned, not happy. "Shit!" Kaira exclaimed. "Yeah. Cops are listening." Nate said. "Now what?" Kaira asked. They met back up at the hotel.</p><p>The team was arguing as Nate poured himself a drink. "Hardison, where were you when it mattered? He asked me to tear up the check, so I tore up the check." Sophie argued. "I didn't make the decision to throw away everybody else's money, okay?" Hardison argued over top of the team. They argued still. "Hey, listen, I don't like it. Cops mean too many variables." Eliot argued. "Exactly." Kaira defended her boyfriend. "And what are you gonna tell the Scotts. Nate, huh? How are we gonna explain to them that we - we - we tore up their future." Sophie questioned. "We don't. Because Nate's got a plan. He always has a plan." Kaira commented, showing she wasn't happy. "And who's gonna tell that guy we had a house for his baby boy and you just gave it away?" Hardison asked. "You're always the one who's always telling us we're doing this for the client." Parker said. "One client... many victims. We have a chance to represent those who couldn't ask for our help. And besides. we're going with a much bigger scam - one of the classics." Nate said. "The London Spank?" Parker questioned. "The Genevan Paso Doble." Hardison said. "The Apple Pie." Eliot said. The team looked at him. "It's like the Cherry Pie, but with lifeguards." Eliot explained. Kaira realized the con. "Glengarry Glen Death." Kaira realized. Nate looked at Kaira proud, giving her a signal to explain it. "It's like a mutual fund. Instead of stocks, you invest in death." Kaira explained. Nate walked away, confirming the scam they were doing. "I-is it me, or is he getting creepier?" Parker questioned. "Definitely." Kaira said. They went to bed and the next day, Nate met with Dennis and Sophie.</p><p>Nate got Dennis to take the deal. The only condition was that he gets to pick the doctor to determine whether or not the person was dying. Nate agreed and made the deal. They went to the hospital and set the scam up. Parker was the patient, Kaira was a nurse, and Eliot was on standby. "Why do I have to be the patient?" Parker asked Nate as she was laying down on the MRI table. "Because he picked a woman's name." Nate said. "And I can't play both parts." Sophie said. "And I have to play the nurse." Kaira said. "So you get the tumor." Nate said. "Where have you been?" Sophie asked Nate. Nate looked at her. Something was wrong with Nate, but Kaira couldn't figure it out. "Everything okay?" Sophie asked. "Fine." Nate said. "Okay, people, hacking into the imaging computer is simple enough, but I've run some simulations, and I don't think I can ghost an image that'll pass a doctor's inspection." Hardison said, moving the curtains open to the window. "Okay, well, can we give her a fake tumor, or..." Nate questioned. "Well, we could inject her brain with some contrast dye, have it pull into her cranial cavity, but there might be some side effects." Hardison said. Parker sat up. "Like what?" Parker asked. "Organ failure, death, death like symptoms." Hardison said. "I vote for plan b." Parker said. "You know, we could get another chamber, and then put a brain with a tumor in that one and then send the signal to the monitor for this chamber." Eliot suggested. The team looked at him weird. "Cross the wires." Eliot finished. The team remained silent. "What? I dated a neurologist." Eliot said. Kaira gasped and smirked. "And how in the hell did you get with a neurologist, cowboy?" Kaira questioned. "Similar to how I got you." Eliot smirked at her. Sophie stood up. "There's a machine in the next suite. I could tap that." Hardison said. "Great. Now, all we have to do is find a brain with a tumor." Sophie said. "Bolus of semi solid-fluid injected into one of the ventricles - that should do it. Man, we need some hot wax. Oh, and a cadaver." Hardison said. "Okay. Let's get to work." Nate ordered. "Whoa, you're not - you're not seriously thinking about -" Hardison objected. "Yeah, what we need to do is, we need to secure this chamber and, uh, the one next to it, have to make sure the comms work with the magnetic interference, set up a meeting with the Retzings. Somebody find me a brain." Nate ordered and left. "Oh yeah. He's definitely getting creepier." Parker said. The gang got to work getting the chamber set up.</p><p>"Uh, Hardison, are we, uh, are we ready?" Nate asked quietly. "Just call me the scarecrow. I'm ready to rock. Now, if I only had a brain." Hardison reported. "Eliot, Kaira?" Nate got their attention. "Yeah, almost there." Eliot answered. "Did you, uh, get the -" Nate questioned. "Yep." Kaira answered. "Where?" Nate asked. "You really want to know?" Eliot asked. "No, not really. No." Nate said. The couple pushed the gurney to the room. "Sophie, is the patient ready?" Nate asked quietly again. "She's at death's door." Sophie said. "Oh, this is fun. Hey, do you need a minute to prepare? You know, death scenes can be demanding. I remember this time I was playing Camille in Summer Stock, and, oof, I was drained after every performance." Sophie said, getting too into the idea. "Don't I just make-believe I'm dying?" Parker questioned. "Okay, you need to own the space and - and - access your sense memory. Here, try this. Think of, um, a really sad thing that's happened in your life, like, I don't know, when your father died." Sophie suggested. Parker then laughed as Kaira's jaw dropped. "Yeah. This isn't gonna be easy." Sophie said. "Parker just stay calm, and you'll be fine." Kaira suggested. As Nate was buying a little time, Kaira helped the boys prepare the brain. Hardison got a syringe ready of fluid to eject in the brain. He handed it to Eliot. He just held it and tried giving it back. "What?" Eliot questioned. "You." Hardison said. "Go." Eliot said. "Go? What you mean, go?" Hardison questioned. "Cause it was your idea." Eliot argued. "No, no, no, no, I-it's my information. It's Nate's idea to do this nastiness." Hardison argued back, disgusted. "Rock-paper-scissors?" Eliot suggested. Eliot stabbed the brain with his finger, making a squishy sound and started rock paper scissors with Hardison. Eliot won. "Well, I'll be damned. How'd you do that?" Hardison asked. Eliot handed the syringe to Hardison. "You got a tell." Eliot told him. "I have a tell?" Hardison questioned. "Yeah." Eliot confirmed. "In rock-paper-scissors?" Hardison questioned. "Yeah. Go." Eliot said, impatient. Hardison was hesitant to do it. He stabbed the brain lightly. "You're gonna go all the way through the head." Eliot said. "Damn. That's my bad." Hardison said, trying to get out of it. Kaira snatched the syringe from him. "Give me that." Kaira said. She stabbed the syringe in and ejected the dye. She pulled the syringe out and sat it down to the side. "Damn, woman." Hardison said, disgusted and grossed out. Eliot just stood in shock. They got ready for the scan.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot helped Parker into the chamber and Dennis commented about how Parker looked dead. After the scan happened, the quartet met in the room as Nate and Sophie closed the deal. Nate faked a call about a big deal he had. "Well, mother of three in Chicago won't be finishing her bucket list. Perfect timing, I've been eyeing this Lexus." Nate said. "What is he doing?" Eliot asked. "Nathan don't you dare." Kaira warned. "So, where's my cut?" Dennis asked. "Your what?" Nate questioned. "I gave you ten grand. I want my take." Dennis said. "Oh, no. I'm sorry. No, that was a holding fee. You're not in." Nate explained. "The hell I'm not. I want my money." Dennis said. "Well, okay. First stage investor. Payout bonus kind of thing. 100,000 dollars?" Nate said. "What is he doing?!" Parker exclaimed, getting up and leaving. "Oh hell no!" Kaira exclaimed, getting up with Eliot to stop Parker. Parker ran out into the hall and Eliot picked her up and they walked back to the room. Dennis said he had to move some accounts around and Nate freaked out and did the blow off, but had Dennis keep the money. They met back up at the hotel. "I'll stop payment on the check. Just give me a few seconds." Hardison said. "Just let it go, will you?" Nate said. "Now, let me get something straight. We had half a million for our clients, and we didn't take it. Now we've given the mark 100 grand of our money - my money." Parker said, upset. "The basic stall." Nate said. "Stall is for when you've got someone on the hook." Parker said. "What about Papa Bear, okay? Dennis can't take a leak without Henry signing off for it. How's he supposed to get us that money?" Hardison questioned. "Guys, you got to trust me, all right? You've trusted me before and with your life." Nate argued. Eliot slammed the table him and Kaira were sitting at. "Not when you're drunk!" Eliot growled. Nate laughed. "Oh, come on." Nate said. "Nathan, you're not in control of yourself." Kaira said, standing up. "So, what, you're gonna control me? Is that it?" Nate questioned. "I ain't your mom and Eliot ain't your daddy. You can drink all you want, but if you drag me and Eliot down with you, then it's our problem." Kaira argued. "You know, you talk too much. You ought to just go skip some rope." Nate said. "What?" Eliot said. "Yeah, go skip some rope." Nate said. Eliot jumped out of his seat. Kaira got in front of him and told him to cool it. "You want me to skip something? I'll skip your drunk ass off this marble floor." Eliot said, pissed.</p><p>Kaira kept him off of Nate as Sophie stood up. "Okay, okay, I need to, um, speak to Nate alone." Sophie said. "Yeah, you do that." Eliot said, leaving. The rest of the team followed. "We're going for a walk." Kaira all but ordered Eliot. She grabbed his hand and walked to the main entrance. "Kaira, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at Nate like that." Eliot stopped Kaira during their walk. "It's okay. If it wasn't you, it would've been me." Kaira said. They continued walking for a while, staying silent. They went back to their room and got changed for bed. "Thanks, Kaira for keeping me in line earlier." Eliot said. "Of course, cowboy. That's my job, ain't it?" Kaira smiled. Eliot kissed her goodnight. The next day, they got ready. Dennis called Nate and was willing to send in five million dollars. Eliot, Hardison, Kaira, and Parker were at the bank. Elliot answered his phone. He and Kaira acted like a couple getting a bank account opened. "We're still at the Retzings' bank. We have an issue." Eliot told him. In one of the booths was Henry and Randy Retzing. Hardison was doing his thing and Kaira and Eliot smashed the window of his Hummer. Then Nate and Dennis arrived. Then the brothers started arguing and fighting. "Uh, everybody out now." Nate ordered. Eliot and Kaira walked out hand in hand as Hardison followed. It was after they met back up that it was revealed that Hardison hacked a printer and tricked Randy to signing away controlling interest in the company. Nate also used Dennis to set up Henry to move money offshore to get a Rico charge to stick after his deal with the state police. Nate called Dennis to taunt him and met up later with the team. A couple of days went by after Dennis was forced to move out of his house. Dennis was good with the books, declaring his home a corporate asset, which was taken away because Nate had controlling interest in the company now. The team met with the Scott's and gave them the keys. Nate walked out of the house. "Yeah, it's a little bigger than the old place, but... I hope it'll do." Nate told the family, throwing the keys to the man. Eliot and Kaira kept watch. Kaira was smiling as the clients hugged and cried. Hardison was also crying. "Are you crying?" Parker asked. "Sup? No, no, it's the Florida air. Pollen." Hardison said, trying to stop crying. Eliot and Kaira congratulated the new homeowners. Nate was talking with Sophie. This one felt good to finish for Kaira. The team went home and waited for the next job.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Did you get Kaira's alias reference? Comment if you did.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The 12-Step Job (1x10)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This latest job is a good one. A banker named Jack Hurley stole money from a charity and vanished. When the team tracks him down, Nate decides to run a game on him to find out where the money is. It's a wild goose chase with a compulsive liar. What could go wrong?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot got called in by Nate. He filled them in on the job. A woman who runs a food bank was scammed by a banker named Jack Hurley, and she was at risk for going to jail. They walked into the meeting room. "She has all the company's monthly statements. Why can't she sue the firm?" Eliot asked, walking with Nate, Kaira, and Sophie. "Yeah, well, have fun with your seven-year lawsuit against a wall street firm and your pro bono mall lawyer. Yeah, see how that turns out for you. No, we have to find this Jack Hurley. Hardison." Nate said, cueing up Hardison. He pulled up the information on the screens. "Jack Hurley, money manager for McTeague Capital Investments. Single, no criminal record. He owns a condo in the marina." Hardison said. "Last seen peeling out of the company driveway yesterday. Where is he?" Nate questioned. "I can tell you where he is not - my world. He's not on the grid. No online noise at all." Hardison reported. "He's probably liquidated the charity's money into cash." Sophie suggested. "All right, if that's the case, then it's gonna be burning a hole in his pocket." Eliot said. "Hardison, try pulling up places he's been." Kaira said. "Here's his last credit card statement before he disappeared. Uh, bar, bar. Strip club. Taco stand. I didn't know they took plastic. Asian massage. I know they take plastic. Bar. Wing spot, pay per view. This is all Sunday." Hardison explained. "All right, well, you have any patterns with his movements?" Eliot asked. Hardison connected the dots of the locations on the screen. It didn't show a pattern. "That look like a pattern to you?" Hardison asked. "It's like Billy from "The Family Circus", if Billy was a drunken sex fiend." Parker commented. "Uh, uh. We're assuming this guy's still in Los Angeles. But you said yourself he could be halfway across the globe." Sophie said. "No, his passport wasn't dinged. He's still in the states." Hardison said. "Oh, well, that narrows this down." Parker said. "Actually, it does. He's an addict, under stress." Nate got up. "So he's not gonna be doing a lot of exploring. He's gonna stay well within his comfort zone. He's still in L.A. Oh, yeah. All right, we're gonna do this old school. Parker, you break into his condo, see what you can find. Sophie and I will hit the retail spots. You three go to his favorite haunts. But don't spook him, just follow him. Let him lead us to the money." Nate ordered. "Strip joint." Eliot whispered to Hardison as they left. Hardison turned back around. "I'm - I'm gonna need change for 100... in singles." Hardison said, turning back around. "I'm sorry, what? You think I have 100 singles on me?" Nate questioned. They walked out the door with Kaira smacking Hardison in the back of the head.</p><p>Eliot chuckled as they got in the car and went to the strip clubs Hurley frequented. "Bar number 12. You see this place? He's not exactly a velvet rope kind of guy, is he?" Hardison questioned. "No, he's not." Eliot said. Kaira kept silent, looking out the car. Hardison then started dumping his slushie on the floor. "Look at this guy one more time." Eliot said, looking at the picture. "Don't get mad, but I may have spilled slushie in your car." Hardison said. Kaira looked over and saw the lid floating in the blue slushie on the floor. "That's like 44 ounces Hardison!" Eliot exclaimed, getting pissed. "It's not that much." Hardison said. "Hardison, the damn lids floating in the floorboard!" Kaira exclaimed, not happy. "Wow, you are being..." Hardison was saying. "It's running into the backseat." Eliot yelled, still pissed. Kaira got out and sat on Eliot's lap upfront. "...very dramatic." Hardison said. "When we get back to the office, you're cleaning this up. You're cleaning this up as soon as we get back." Eliot yelled. "That's our guy right there." Hardison said. "Don't change the subject." Eliot argued. "No, look, that's our guy." Hardison said. Kaira looked out the window and saw a drunk looking Hurley try to give car keys to a woman. "I'll be damned." Kaira said, chuckling a bit. "All right, Nate, we got Hurley at location number 12. Meet us here to pursue." Eliot reported in the comm. "This dude - you see him trying to force his keys onto that girl?" Hardison questioned. "Yeah." Kaira commented. "Yeah. It should be the other way around, huh? Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. You don't know anything about that." Eliot commented. Hardison glared at Eliot. "Really? I almost had it in me to wash this car. Almost." Hardison said. "Ten bucks says you're washing this car." Eliot said. Kaira was looking out when a car pulled up and crashed into Hurley's car.</p><p>"I guaran-" Eliot said when Kaira hit his shoulder to get his attention. Then three guys came out and started threatening Hurley. Kaira immediately opened the door as Hardison took off his seat belt. "That is now how you exchange insurance information." Hardison said, getting out. The trio ran up to the guys. Eliot and Kaira went after two of the thugs, pulling them away from Hurley as Hardison held another guy back. Kaira slammed her guys head on the car, making him stumble. Eliot's guy drew a gun, which Eliot disarmed him by grabbing the gun and hitting the guy with his elbow. Hardison let his guy go and got punched as Kaira saw Hurley get in his car. Then Hurley drove through them as Kaira dived out of the way. As they got up, Hardison grabbed the gun and held it up. He then shot it at the car as Eliot and Kaira stood behind him. Smoke came out of the engine block. The trio ran back to their car. "Nice job blowing out the engine block." Eliot complimented. "I was aiming for his leg." Hardison said. Kaira took the gun off of Hardison. "Give me the gun!" Kaira exclaimed. "What?" Hardison questioned. They loaded into the car. "Nate, we lost him." Kaira reported. "Don't worry. We found him. He's around the corner on Cyprus." Nate informed them. Eliot drove them away to meet up with the team. They went to the scene. The car had hit a pole. Eliot looked in the driver's side with Hardison as Kaira checked the back with Parker. Kaira moved to the trunk. "Is he sleeping?" Sophie asked. Kaira heard loud snores coming from Hurley. "Could be a concussion." Hardison said. "No, I've had concussions. You don't snore." Eliot said. "You just snore later from the pain meds." Kaira chuckled, looking at Eliot. Parker poked her head up. "No sign of the money in the car." Parker reported. Kaira shut the trunk after not finding anything. "Not in the trunk." Kaira reported. "Wake his ass up, then. I'll find out where it's at in five minutes." Eliot growled. "Hold up cowboy." Kaira warned. "Yeah, and what are we going do while he sends you on a wild goose chase, huh? Tie him to the chair? No thanks. I'm not gonna add kidnapping to my list of crimes." Nate said. "Well, what do we do?" Parker asked. "Just got to be smart about this. Run a game on him." Nate said. Sirens could then be heard as the team stood up. "What game?" Sophie questioned. "Nathan, in five minutes, Hurley's gonna be in County. We won't get near him there." Kaira said. "No, the cops aren't gonna lock him up. Jack Hurley is gonna lock himself up." Nate said. The team left before the cops showed up.</p><p>Nate was in the same room as Hurley in the rehab center by the time he woke up. Sophie was a therapist and Parker was another patient. Kaira, Eliot, and Hardison were on the money lookout. Parker managed to get Hurley's car keys for the car that was actually his and get them to Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira. They went to the parking garage Hurley said his car was at the next day. They were up on the top floor. Hardison kept pushing the unlock button to find the car. "Talk to me, baby." Hardison said, pressing the button. Kaira heard the beep. "Over there." Eliot hit Hardison and led the way. They jogged over to the car as Hardison opened the door. "Ugh. Damn." Hardison groaned. There were alcohol bottles and food wrappers everywhere. Hardison sat down. Kaira saw Eliot's face. She could tell he was thinking. She re-looked at the car, trying to find the thing. It was a matter of seconds when she realized what it was. "Hurley's a big guy, right? So is the parking attendant." Eliot questioned, quietly. "Yeah. So why is the seat up further?" Kaira said, also quietly. Kaira got a sick feeling. "I don't think I can pop the trunk without starting the car." Hardison said. He saw Kaira and Eliot's faces. "What's your problem?" Hardison asked. "Something's wrong. Stay put." Kaira said. She and Eliot went down on the ground and looked under the car. Kaira went pale as she stood up. Eliot also had a similar look. "What?" Hardison questioned. "There's a bomb under the car." Kaira said. "What?" Hardison questioned, getting worried. "Listen, listen. There's a bomb. No, stay." Eliot grabbed Hardison's hand so he wouldn't move. Hardison freaked and kept saying for them to move as Kaira grabbed his hands as well. "Hardison, it's right underneath the seat." Kaira said, trying to keep everyone calm. "All right? That means it's got to be pressure sensitive. If you move, this thing's gonna go off." Eliot said, laying out the facts. "Chill." Eliot said, calmly. Hardison thought as Eliot ducked back under. Kaira rubbed Hardison's hands, keeping him calm as he was thinking. "Pressure-sensitive? It's pressure-sensitive. You sure?" Hardison questioned. Eliot looked up at Kaira confirming. Kaira shook her head yes hesitantly. "Okay. Pressure. Pressure. Okay, um. Eliot go - go g-get a bag of bricks, right. Bricks, and you put it on the seat at the same time I roll off." Hardison said. "That only works in the movies." Eliot said. "Bag of bricks is a good, sound plan!" Hardison exclaimed, trying not to panic. "We got two minutes." Eliot reported. "Two minutes?" Hardison said. "Shut up! Focus!" Eliot exclaimed. "You start with the bomb has two minutes!" Hardison exclaimed again. "All right. There's wires running in the dashboard computer. That's probably how it's picking up the pressure sensors in the seat." Eliot reported. Kaira got an idea. "It's a computer bomb. Computers are your thing, Hardison." Kaira told him. Hardison got an idea. "We - we - we got to reboot the system." Hardison said, calming down. Eliot popped back up. "You want me to kick it?" Eliot asked. "No!" Kaira exclaimed. "God, I'm gonna die. No, just - look." Hardison went to move and Eliot stopped him. "J-just - no. Duck up under the hood and tell me how it's attached to the electrical system." Hardison said as Eliot popped the hood.</p><p>Eliot went up and opened the hood. "I got it. Man, there's a lot of wires here." Eliot reported. "Yes, there are a lot of wires. It's a computer." Hardison said sarcastically. He pulled out a knife and told himself to breathe as Kaira stepped back carefully. "Okay, you know what? Look. What you got to do, man, you got to yank the wires. At the same time, I'll reboot the system and trick the bomb into thinking it's gone off." Hardison said. Kaira went up by Eliot. He was right about the wires. "What's our margin of error?" Kaira asked, worried for her friend. "About half a second." Hardison informed her. "Run the bag of bricks by me again." Eliot said. "You ready?" Hardison asked. "No!" Eliot exclaimed. Kaira breathed to calm down. Hardison looked at Eliot again. "Are you ready?" He asked. "Yeah." Eliot said. He moved to get a better position and held the wire. His hand was shaking a bit. Kaira put her hand on his to steady it. Kaira was always better at keeping her nerves in line than Eliot was. Hardison looked a moment at the couple. "Go!" Hardison called as Eliot pulled the wire as Hardison rebooted the system. Kaira ran as Hardison jumped out and Eliot ran a bit. Eliot ducked under to grab the bomb as Hardison and Kaira looked each other over and calmed themselves down and sighed in relief. "Souvenir." Eliot said, walking over to Hardison and Kaira with the bomb. "Don't. Stop. Don't play." Hardison warned. Hardison went to walk away as Kaira went towards the car. "Where you going? We got to search the car." Eliot said. "I'm gonna go and freshen up a little bit. Maybe cry a little." Hardison said. Just then a black SUV came screeching in. Kaira got in a defensive position in front of Eliot and Hardison. "Old friends." Eliot realized. They opened the doors. As they got out a white car rolled up. "And new ones." Hardison realized. "Who are these guys?" The boss of the white car gang questioned as they walked up. "Our friends from the bar." The boss of the Black SUV gang said in Spanish and drew his gun. "You two with Hurley? Where's my money?" The same guy asked in English. The boss of the Korean gang from the white car spoke Korean, a language Kaira didn't know. "You have five seconds to give us our money, or you die." He said, pulling out his gun. The Korean guy was counting down from five as the Mexican gang argued about the money.</p><p>"We don't have the money. Why do you think we're here? Our boss wants it too." Kaira said in a British accent. "Five." He said. "Hey, fellas, fellas, fellas. We are from the same boat, you know? I come from Kingston, Jamaica. I come to collect my money from the bastard Hurley." Hardison tried to negotiate in a Jamaican accent. "Four." The guys continued. "You think I'm playing with you?" The Mexican guy argued. "Fellas, Fellas. We all want the same thing." Hardison said, still in the Jamaican accent. "Let's be gentlemen about this and talk about this over a pint, yeah?" Kaira negotiated still in her British accent. "Three." The Korean guy said. "Keep counting. I'll put a bullet in your head." The Mexican guy argued. "Two." The Korean said. Kaira was getting nervous. "Say one, punta!" The Mexican guy argued. "Hey, yo, you a Korean. You a Mexican. Her a Brit. Me a Jamaican. Okay. Underneath, we all the same thing." Hardison tried again to negotiate. "One." the Korean guy said. "Hold on. I got your bomb right here. All right?" Eliot said, pulling out the bomb that was underneath the car and holding it out in front of Kaira and Hardison as he pulled her back and Hardison went behind them slightly. "Chileans." The Korean guy realized. "Never mess with Chileans." The Mexican guy said. "You mean there's more guys who want this dude dead?" Hardison whispered in his normal voice. "I got it on a one-second delay. That gives me just enough time to get underneath that truck. Now, maybe I make it. Maybe I don't. But one thing's for certain - you all die. Now, let's just calm down, and let's back away." Eliot said. It was a tense few seconds before the Korean boss spoke Korean and ordered his men back to the car. "¡Vamos!" The Mexican guy ordered his men. Both engines started and the cars backed away. "Hey Eliot, when you said you were gonna dive under that truck, you were gonna drag me with you, right?" Hardison questioned. "Sure." Eliot said in a not really tone. Kaira chuckled. "I'm serious, man. Don't play with me. I'm serious." Hardison warned. "You were gonna take me with you, right cowboy?" Kaira questioned. "Of course." Eliot said. Hardison's jaw dropped as they checked the car. They found nothing.</p><p>They went back over to the rehab center and Eliot dinged the service bell. The blond receptionist rolled over to them in her seat. "Can I help you?" She asked. "Yes. We're here to see a patient of yours, Mr. Tom Baker." Kaira answered. "What's your relationship?" She asked. "Why?" Eliot asked. "Second Act has a strict policy. Only family members can see patients. We want to make sure outside influences don't hamper our client's recoveries." She explained. "I think that's an excellent policy." Eliot said, flirting slightly. "That's Tom's brother, I'm his future sister-in-law, and beside me is our adopted brother." Kaira answered before Hardison could embarrass them with something else. Kaira flashed her promise ring, which could've looked like an engagement ring to someone who didn't know that it wasn't. The lady let them through. "How did I just notice you had on an engagement ring?" Hardison asked as they walked to the room. "It's not an engagement ring. It's a promise ring, Hardison." Kaira answered. Hardison looked at them weird. "A promise ring?" Hardison questioned. "Yeah, Hardison. That's why guys do in serious relationships. Oh, I forgot, you wouldn't know about that." Eliot retorted as Hardison scoffed as they entered Nate's room. They filled Nate in on what happened. He did not look good at all. Kaira knew he was going through withdrawal as he hadn't had a drink in 48 hours. "So, it wasn't just a charity that Hurley ripped off." Eliot informed Nate. "It was like the axis of scumbags." Hardison said. "North Korea is a counterfeiting center. So they must be using Hurley's company to launder their dirty paper." Nate realized, kinda quiet. "Yeah, well, this Mexican cat had an accent like we was from the Oaxaca region." Eliot said. "He's probably Sicario. Drug cartel hitmen." Kaira realized. Nate rubbed his face and sighed. "Yeah, well, this is great. I mean, the only guy who knows where the money is is a compulsive liar, so..." Nate rubbed his eyes more thinking. "You all right?" Eliot asked. "Yeah." Nate said, sighing and breathing heavy. Then Nate got up and paced by the window. "We've come up blank on the car, the condo, the office. It means someone else is holding the money for him, right? Eliot, we need to learn about the people in his life. So I'll get the names. I need - I need you three to follow up." Sophie said. "What about the gangs?" Hardison questioned. "We - we still have one advantage. Cause we have Hurley, so..." Nate said, cueing the rest of the team to go to the club where they found Hurley at.</p><p>They walked inside to find the girl and they walked outside. "He just called, actually. Sounded kind of rough." The lady said. "Yeah, well, we saw how he was treating you at the bar the other day, and..." Eliot was saying before the lady cut him off. "Oh, that, no." She laughed. "He wasn't harassing me. He bought me a car. He was just trying to convince me to take it." The lady informed them. Kaira had a confused look on her face. "He bought you a car?" Hardison questioned, confused. "Mine broke down. Jack was just trying to help." The lady said. Eliot was confused. "Thank you for your time." Eliot said. shaking her hand. She shook Kaira's hand and Hardison's hand and walked away. "What the hell?" Kaira questioned, confused. They got back in the car with Hardison driving, Eliot shotgun, and Kaira in the back. "Well, there's a dead end." Eliot said as Hardison got the GPS ready for the next location. "Who's next?" Kaira asked. "A strip club - Gary's Hideaway." Hardison said. He started the car and drove off. The trio got nothing at the club, only more information. Then the team went back to the office to meet with Sophie. "He's not all bad." Hardison said. Sophie's phone rang. "He gave money to those who needed it." Kaira said. "You ever notice how all bad guys know at least one stripper?" Eliot asked. Sophie answered her phone. "Hello?" Sophie said to the phone. "And you know at least a hundred so what does that say about you?" Hardison questioned. "Hey, I'm a bad guy." Eliot said as Kaira chuckled. "Oh, really?" Kaira smiled at Eliot as he smiled back at her. "I'll be right there." Sophie hung up the phone, sighing. Sophie got ready to leave when they noticed her face. "What? What's wrong?" Eliot questioned. "It's the rehab center. He tried to go over the wall." Sophie said, annoyed as she was leaving. Kaira got the message. "Shit." Kaira said quietly. Kaira laid her head down in frustration. Eliot rubbed her back, hoping to help as Hardison grabbed her shoulder. "It was Nate. I was hoping he maybe would actually get some help being in the rehab center. But I'm worried that Nate's gonna do something bad. Or stupid. Or both." Kaira said. The boys nodded in understanding as Kaira sat up.</p><p>A moment later Sophie walked back in and filled the team in. Kaira was right. Nate was trying to escape the center. Kaira groaned as she realized her fear was coming true. A few moments later, Nate called them. They sat around the silver phone speaker on the table. "Hurley says the money's in his car." Nate informed the team. "Impossible. We searched every inch of that thing." Eliot said. "Apparently not every inch." Nate said. "How did you break him?" Sophie asked. "Uh, well, um..." Nate said as they heard music from a taco truck. "You took him out for tacos? Nate, you're enabling him." Sophie argued, disappointed. "Whoa. Whoa. I haven't slept in three days. I had a showdown with two different gangs. Who now, by the way, know my face. I sat on a bomb. And all of this could've been avoided had you gave the man a taco?" Hardison questioned upset. "Why are we even helping this guy, huh? Why don't we just turn him over to the cops?" Eliot asked, upset as well. "Listen to me, guys - I'm not saying we throw him a parade. But if we don't help him, he's gonna be dead by the end of the day." Nate said. "What's the plan, Nathan?" Kaira asked. Nate told them the plan. Nate drove Hurley to his car and led him to it as Sophie drove the rest over to the car. Before Nate and Hurley went over, Hardison and Eliot planted the Chilean's bomb in Hurley's car as Kaira got the rig ready to pull both Sophie and Hurley away from the car before it exploded. Kaira watched as the car exploded and both gangs drove away. Eliot had covered both Kaira and Sophie with his body before the car exploded. Then Kaira got up to check on Nate. "You okay?" Sophie asked. "Yeah, I wasn't expecting a, uh, explosion that big." Nate said. "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry about that. That's what happens when you use other people's equipment." Hardison said. Kaira chuckled a bit. "Just glad I wasn't in that car this time." Hardison said. "How's our boy?" Nate asked. Just then Hurley came over. "Oh, hey, Hurley." Nate said. "How you doing?" Nate asked. " I-I'm not entirely sure what just happened. Y-you and Tom worked together to help me?" Hurley questioned, confused. "That's right." Sophie said, standing by Nate. "You must really care about me. I mean, for you guys to work together. You don't even like each other." Hurley said. Kaira chuckled a bit. If only he knew. "Oh, well - well, actually, you know, he and I, we -" Sophie explained, stumbling a bit. "We get along just fine. Sometimes, you know, in the heat of the moment in therapy, you know you say things you don't mean." Nate said before Sophie started arguing. "You mean what you say." Sophie argued. "Water under the bridge anyhow." Nate argued. "Hurley, that was a pretty wild ride, right?" Hardison asked.</p><p>The team was gathered around him. "Yeah, except for the wild goose chase you sent us on. And me and Kaira checked every inch of that car. There's no money." Eliot said. "Actually..." Hurley said, walking away. Hurley had Eliot grab one of the flaming tires and rolled it to another car as Eliot put out the fire and lifted the tire on the trunk of another car. Eliot grabbed Kaira's knife from her pocket and started cutting the tire. "Steel-belted radials." Hurley said. In the tire was the money Hurley stole. Eliot got excited as he grabbed a handful of hundred dollar bills. "What do you think?" Hurley asked. "I think you might have a knack for this." Sophie said. Eliot pulled out more bills and put it in a bag. They went back to the offices with Hurley and had Michelle from the food bank come over so Hurley can give the money back to her. "Sorry about the rubber smell. It should go away after a while." Hurley said, giving her the bag of money. Kaira stood to the side as she watched Michelle hug Nate, then Sophie, and ignore Hurley. Nate told Hurley to take the win as Sophie saw Michelle out of the office. Nate then handed Hurley a yellow envelope. "Here you go." Nate said. "What's this?" Hurley asked. "It's your new identity. Driver's license, a passport, birth certificate. There's also a library card, Netflix membership, Sam's Club." Kaira explained. "I also got you three months free at 24-hour fitness. Maybe work off some of those tacos." Hardison said. "You didn't have to do all this." Hurley said, surprised. "Yeah, well, actually, uh, we did. Uh, Jack Hurley is dead. We killed him. So this is your chance to kind of start over." Nate said. "Wow. Hey, do you think Michelle will forgive me when she gets the payout from my life insurance policy?" Hurley asked. "Yeah, why don't we just, uh, go with the win?" Nate questioned, leading Hurley out the door. "This is your second chance, so don't screw it up." Kaira said. Nate handed him a train ticket. "Don't worry about me. I'm playing it straight from now on. In fact, as as I get to, uh... Rosarito, I'm gonna find the nearest support group. I promise. Thanks for everything, Tom." Hurley said, grateful. "And, hey, if you ever need a sponsor, I am totally there for you, man." Hurley said. Hurley tried to hug Nate, but Nate didn't want to be hugged. Hurley went to Hardison next, didn't want to be hugged. Kaira felt bad so she let Hurley hug her. He told them goodbye and left. Nate sighed as he shut the door. "Okay. So, we have one more piece of business left to do, right?" Nate said as Hardison shook his head yes.</p><p>They met up outside the rehab center as Sophie went in to get Parker out, citing that Parker needed to be around people like her. They were by a tree near the rehab center as Parker ran over to the team, all but bouncing off the walls. She hugged Kaira, who just chuckled trying to keep her balance. "I missed you guys!" Parker exclaimed, pouncing on Eliot as she tossed Nate her clothes. "Ohh! When do the happy pills wear off?" Eliot asked, kinda amused. "Usually about 24 hours." Nate informed the team. Parker went over to hug Hardison. "That's too bad. I kind of like this Parker." Hardison said. Parker kept her arm around Hardison's neck as she put her other arm around Eliot's neck as he put his arm around Kaira's neck as the four walked to the car. Nate tossed Eliot Parker's clothes. Kaira was chuckling, content with the moment she was in. At that moment, Kaira knew the only people she needed were right beside her. Her boyfriend, her little sister, and her big brother. And her parents behind her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The Juror #6 Job (1x11)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In order to keep up the legitimacy of one of her aliases, and to make amends for the last job which went south and nearly caused the team to get decapitated in an elevator, Parker reports for jury duty. When Parker discovers that there is something sinister going on with the trial, she has the team investigate and help the poor widow with her trial.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To say this last job went to Hell in a handbasket was an understatement. Parker made a call and she nearly got the team hurt. Kaira was pissed. So was the whole team, really. The team entered the office since the job was over. They were arguing. "I did my job. You told me to get us into the penthouse." Parker argued. "Yeah, by following my plan, Parker." Nate argued back. "Parker, you've got to think about other people before you do shit like that!" Kaira exclaimed, setting down her gear. "What?" Parker questioned. "By getting us all in safely." Nate argued back. "Did the elevator decapitate you? Did it decapitate you?" Parker asked, heading towards her office. Hardison was at the computer. "Actually, from this angle, it looks pretty close on the decapitation." Hardison said. "You need to go talk to her. It's not the first time she's gone loco." Eliot told Sophie. "We're serious." Kaira warned Sophie. Sophie went to Parker's office. "Parker, I think what everyone's feeling is that if you want to take insane risks on your own time, then go ahead, but when we're on a job, you have to consider the rest of us. Excuse me." Sophie said as Parker left her office, grabbing a yellow envelope in her desk. "This isn't for me. It's addressed to somebody named Alice White." Parker said as Sophie joined them. Parker threw the envelope in front of Hardison and left. "You are Alice White. It's one of the aliases I made for you - vegetarian, bookkeeper. She had a pretty wild time at her sister's wedding in Phoenix. You should check out her Facebook page." Hardison explained. Eliot smiled a bit. "Alice White has jury duty." Parker explained, having opened up the envelope. "Damn, I am good." Hardison complimented himself as Kaira chuckled. "Yeah, congratulations. Alice thanks you for getting her out of it." Parker said, walking away again. "No. No. Jury duty - a place where you have to follow instructions." Nate said, getting the same idea everyone had. "Where you have to consider other people's point of view." Sophie said. "There's gonna be normal people there, Nate." Eliot said. "No, no, no. You're not getting out of this. Alice White is reporting for jury duty." Nate said. Parker was not happy, but Kiara helped Parker get ready for jury duty. Kaira got snacks ready with Eliot while they waited for Parker to get back. Kaira sat down with Nate and Hardison as Eliot got snacks ready. "So, my video wall plus live tv and full Sunday action in HD." Hardison explained his screens. They each had a separate game shown on them. "Incredible." Nate complimented. "What do you think?" Hardison asked. "Great." Nate and Kaira said. "Right. Right?" Hardison said again as Sophie grabbed some pizza. "I think it's funny. You know, it reminds me a bit of rugby, except - well, you Americans, you wear the helmets and the pads and everything so you don't get hurt." Sophie said, taking a bite of pizza. Kaira just stared at her. "Oh, you didn't." Hardison said. "What?" Sophie said. Then Parker came up to them in front of the screens.</p><p>"Ahh! Parker, how is Juror number 6 today?" Nate asked. "Good. Okay, here it is." Parker was saying before Hardison yelled fumble. Kaira hit Hardison on the shoulder for him to be quiet. "I think there's something dirty going on with this trial and the woman who lost her husband's gonna get hurt even worse, and that we should, um, you know, get involved." Parker said. Nate kept gesturing for her to move. Kaira gave him a dirty look. "Involved? What - what do you -" Nate said. "No, no, no. no, no, no. You don't understand. They had hidden cameras, and the lawyers had comms. Like our comms." Parker explained. Kaira perked up, thinking. "First, move. Second, nobody has our comms." Hardison explained. "Parker, listen, there is not some evil conspiracy lurking behind the curtain of every routine civic activity." Nate said. "I make our comms. Me. I make 'em. Ain't nobody got our comms, do what I do." Hardison said. Sophie understood Kaira's frustration. "Now what's happening is, you're on a boring jury trial. Okay? Now could you..." Nate said, gesturing for Parker to move. Nate yelled at Parker and gestured for her to move as she left. Kaira smacked them both. "What the hell is wrong with you, Nathan? You too Hardison. Parker's never asked for help. From either one of us. If she says something's off, then it's most likely true." Kaira yelled at the two of them. Sophie left agreeing with what Kaira said. "Listen, there is a reason we put her in a jury trial." Nate said. Hardison muted the tv. "Yeah. To help her learn how to put others before herself. That's what she's doing." Kaira said. "You know, man, when I was a - when I was a kid, I was like eight years old, I had a foster mom who was Jehovah's Witness. She used to dress me up in a suit and a bow tie and take me door-to-door to spread the word. Black neighborhoods, white neighborhoods - it didn't matter. I would kick, I'd scream, or whatever, but she would say "Alec, you need to learn how to talk to people." See, everything I know about people, I learned ringing doorbells and - and - and being in a bow tie. Parker never had that. I mean, jumping from a skyscraper, she's cool. But making small talk? That's - it's like pure terror. Just cut her some slack." Hardison defended Parker. "You know, it wasn't until I joined the Army and got assigned to Eliot's team that I learned to talk to people. I was socially awkward. That's why I was a server in high school. I was hoping it would help me, but it was worse for me. Eliot taught me to communicate with a team. I used what he taught me to be a grifter. I overcame my fear. Parker isn't used to talking to people to get a job done. She's a thief. Not a hacker, a grifter, a hitter, or a mastermind. She has to stay silent to survive. That's what she knows. If she wants help, I'd say we give it to her." Kaira said. Hardison and Nate looked at her sympathetically. This was the first time Kaira was this open with the team. Hardison unmuted the tv as Eliot ran in with the beer. He went to sit down. "How about them boys? Come on!" Eliot exclaimed. Kaira chuckled at her boyfriend's excitement. "What'd I miss?" Eliot asked. "Nothing." Nate said. He looked back to where Parker was standing. Eliot handed Kaira a beer. "Uh, Eliot, gonna need you to go with Parker to check something out." Nate said. "All right." Eliot said looking at the tv. "Yeah. Now." Nate ordered. "Right now?" Eliot questioned. "Yeah, right now. Yeah." Nate confirmed. "Like, now?" Eliot asked. "Yeah. Just go get Parker." Nate said. Eliot hit the table and got up. "I'll go with you, cowboy." Kaira said, getting up. Nate grabbed a beer. "Thanks for the beer." Nate said. Then Eliot walked over to the table again. "I tell you what. This is not happenin', Bubba. You ain't takin' my beer." Eliot said, grabbing the beer. He grabbed Parker and the trio left.</p><p>Kaira drove them to the warehouse where they saw an older hippie guy, who Parker identified as William Quint, walk in. They waited for him to go in and they sneaked in. They went up to an overlook and looked at the floor. There were people everywhere and computers and boards with the jurors on it. They heard Quint call the woman Mrs. Earnshaw. "Who's Earnshaw?" Parker asked. Eliot grabbed his phone and took pictures. "Hardison?" Kaira got his attention. "I'm on it." Hardison said. Kaira tuned in to the conversation that was happening on the floor between Earnshaw and Quint. "I think maybe I should settle this case and be done with it." He said. "It's not up to you anymore." Earnshaw said. Parker plugged in something in the electronics panel. "You want to buy my company. Buy it. You don't, don't. But it's my toques that's on the line here -" Quint said. "The only thing you have on the line is your penny-ante granola company. I could lose everything. Winning is the only option. You go behind my back and try to settle this case, I will bury you. Are we clear?" Earnshaw said. Quint swallowed nervously. Parker finished plugging in her system. "That kind of jury profiling costs a fortune." Eliot observed. "At the trial, they said Quint's company was tiny." Parker said. Kaira kept looking at the equipment at the warehouse. Parker plugged in the last plug of her system. "Now we see... what they see. Damn. They hacked the courtroom security feed and planted their own cameras." Hardison informed them. "That's what I would've done." Nate said. "They got there first." Hardison said. Earnshaw was playing with her chessboard as Eliot, Parker, and Kaira left and met back up with the team later that day. Hardison got his presentation ready and it was dark out by the time he started. They all sat at the table in the meeting room. "All right. We have a new client. Apparently, there is an evil conspiracy lurking behind the curtain of every routine... et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." Nate said, admitting he was wrong. Parker nodded her head in acceptance. "Gloria Vargas is suing Willian Quint over the wrongful death of her husband. Now, it should be a simple low-stakes wrongful death suit." Nate explained before Hardison grabbed the remote and continued. "But Quint has help. Tobey Earnshaw, of Earnshaw Pharmaceuticals. Father founded the company, and he's still C.E.O." Hardison explained. "Why does a drug heiress care about a lawsuit against a tiny supplements company?" Sophie asked. "Cause without telling daddy or the executive board, Earnshaw sank 20 million into R&amp;D for Fastlife in anticipation of buying the company." Hardison said. "See, Live Herbly loses this trial, then thousands of other lawsuits just like it will fall out of the sky." Nate explained. "The buyout falls through." Parker said. "Yeah, and Earnshaw's out on her ass." Eliot said.</p><p>"Earnshaw's gonna destroy that young widow to protect her investment." Kaira said, giving the stakes. "Well, then, we have to win the court case for Gloria." Sophie said. "We can't." Nate said. Kaira looked at Nate. "No, guys, we got into this way too late. I mean, the best we can hope for is to con Quint into a settlement." Nate said. "Nathan, we had an hour to prepare for the Genogrow job. We pulled it off, albeit we were in a falling airplane, but we made it. I vote for winning the trial." Kaira said. The team agreed with Kaira. "Kaira, we can't. We don't have enough time to gather evidence and make a plan for that. Conning Quint into a settlement is the next best thing." Nate argued. "Wait a minute. Earnshaw took settlement off the table." Parker pointed out. "So, then, you know, we try to convince him to put it back on." Nate said. There was a beeping sound. "Hello. Earnshaw just ran a credit check on Alice White." Hardison informed them. "Who's Alice White?" Parker asked. "You are!" The team exclaimed, annoyed. "Whoa." Parker said, defensive. "She's buying the jury." Kaira realized. "Not if we... steal it first." Nate said. The team left and came back the next day.</p><p>They got ready to leave and met back up at the meeting room. Parker, Hardison, Sophie, and Kaira sat down. Eliot stood behind Kaira, massaging her neck and shoulders. "Who plays chess?" Nate asked, standing by the screen. "I play" Eliot said, raising his hand. "I dabble a bit." Kaira said, also raising her hand. "Of course you do." Nate quipped. Eliot and Kaira put their hands down. "A chess game has three stages, right? I mean, you got your opening, middle, and end game. In the opening, you take control of the board, and you want to line up your attack and you want to protect the king, which, ironically, is the weakest piece you have." Nate explained. "You know this is a trial, right?" Hardison questioned. "Not to Earnshaw." Kaira said. "Earnshaw has already overpowered the Vargas defense, and she's buying a juror. Now, that is a fast, aggressive opening gambit. Really is. So, we need to break her momentum here. So, Parker, what I need you to do is I need you to - we need you to stall the trial. So, you're gonna get all of those jurors to trust you." Nate said. "Um... how?" Parker asked, nervous. "Conversation. Compliments. You're gonna be fine." Nate said. Parker left. Kaira got up and took her aside. "Parker, you have to be nice. Say what people want to hear. Like their hair looks nice or their outfit looks nice. You don't have to tell the truth when you're on a job. You have to get these people to like you. Saying something that'll hurt them will not help you. Got it?" Kaira said. "Got it." Parker said. Kaira hugged her and she went back to the table. "Figure out what her line of attack is. Go digging. Figure out who her pawn is on the jury is." Nate ordered. "I've got financial traces on all the juror's accounts." Hardison said. "And if it shows up as cash in a suitcase?" Nate questioned. "Go digging." Nate ordered. The team left and Kaira, Eliot, and Hardison got to work sifting through the garbage outside the courthouse. Kaira went first to sift through the garbage. She grabbed gloves and really dirty clothes and masks. She and Eliot changed when they arrived.</p><p>Eliot went next as Kaira sifted through a bag. Eliot threw a bag at Hardison. Hardison cut it open and him and Kaira looked through it. "It's your turn to be in the dumpster." Eliot said, hoping he could stop. "No, man, no. I-I-I have - I have peanut allergies. What if somebody threw in some extra crunchy skippy? Then you know, it's just." Hardison argued, making a gagging sound. "A-all up in my vocal area, man. Do you want to give me mouth-to-mouth? No, none of us want that. Hell, no." Hardison argued. Eliot then threw another bag at him and hit him in the head. "Heads up." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled as she continued to look through the trash. Kaira found something. "Boys, I think I know who our dirty juror is. I found envelopes for a passport, tickets to Fiji, luggage tickets and it looks like cash wrappers. These belong to the Foreman." Kaira observed, handing the stuff to the gang. Hardison took the items and bagged them as the couple cleaned up the garbage. They went back to the office and changed. Hardison showed the stuff to Nate. Eliot and Kaira decided to change in the same bathroom. Kaira took off her shirt as Eliot watched. Kaira chuckled as she noticed her boyfriend's stares. "Cowboy, if you want a peak, all you have to do is ask." Kaira chuckled. So did Eliot. He lifted Kaira up and sat her on the sink and kissed her, his hands cupping her head. They moved down as Kaira's hands did too. They ended up taking off their pants and shirt, just in their undergarments. They let go to get air. "You like what you see, Princess?" Eliot quipped, smiling. "Hell yeah." Kaira smiled, chuckling. Eliot did too. "Eliot, Kaira, are you done? I would like some help with Parker." Sophie called out. "Yeah. Just a minute." Kaira called out. Eliot chuckled as he helped Kaira off the sink. "We both stink." Kaira chuckled. "Well, sweetheart, we were in garbage all day." Eliot said, grabbing his clothes to change. "Good point. Care to join me for a shower later tonight?" Kaira smirked. "Hell yeah." Eliot smiled as he tossed Kaira her clothes. They got changed and met with Sophie, who was helping Parker with communicating.</p><p>Sophie had an apple and an orange in her hands. Sophie was still dressed in her outfit from meeting with Quint. "Okay, today did not go well, but that's all right. You know, we learn when we fail. We're gonna - we're gonna go back to basics, and we're gonna do a little role-playing. Gonna start with - with persuasion techniques. So, Eliot has an apple." Sophie tossed the apple to Eliot. "Alice has an orange." Sophie said, tossing the orange to Parker. Eliot went beside Sophie as Kaira stayed back. "I love apples. Apples are my favorite fruit." Eliot said in a monotone voice. "Good for you, sparky." Parker said, unamused. "I-I don't have to sit here and take this crap." Eliot said to Sophie. "Go on. Just do it for me." Sophie said. "You have an orange, all right? Now, convince me that I want the orange, not the apple. I'm gonna take a bite." Eliot said. Eliot was hesitant but took a bite of the apple. "I put a razor blade in that apple." Parker stated, causing Eliot to spit out the apple. Kaira tried not to laugh as Parker laughed a bit. "Are you serious?" Eliot said, starting to rip the apple. "Maybe. But do you know what doesn't have a razor blade in it? This orange." Parker sniffed the orange. "Don't you want it?" Parker said as she got up and left, throwing the orange at Eliot's chest. Eliot looked annoyed as Kaira managed to compose herself. "You fell for that?" Sophie questioned, walking away. Eliot took another bite of the apple as Kaira started peeling the orange. Kaira went to find Parker. "Parker, you can't do that to someone. You'll scare them. You can't gain someone's trust that way. You have to be nice to them." Kaira told her. Parker nodded and left to go back to the courthouse. Kaira watched as Parker got rid of the Forman and then comforted Hardison as he became the new attorney for Gloria Vargas, as Earnshaw bought the lawyer defending Gloria. Sophie and Nate went to the courthouse as the trio at the office watched how the session went. Hardison definitely was doing his job of stalling the trial by using a bunch of information they didn't really need. Sophie approached Quint during a break and offered him to call the "home base" of Mumbai International, the company Sophie "worked" for, at midnight. Kaira got the set built while Eliot called up a friend of his, Donnie, to act as the boss.</p><p>Kaira got the camera set up and Eliot got his friend ready for the part. They did the conference call, and Sophie told Quit again to settle the lawsuit. After Quint left, Nate walked in. "Hi. Good. He's good." Nate complimented. "What I tell you?" Eliot said as he went to Donnie to hug him as they laughed. Kaira went to hug him too. "Thank you for coming in on such short notice, Donnie." Eliot said. "Yeah. Thank you, Donnie." Kaira said. "Ah, dinna fash yersel, laddie. What are friends for?" Donnie said, in a thick Scottish accent. It threw Kaira off a bit because she had just heard him in an Indian accent. "Exactly. Beer's on me soon." Eliot said. "Oh, you remember that." Donnie said as Eliot and Donnie laughed and put up their hands as Kaira escorted him out the door. They hugged again. Kaira and Eliot left for the night. When they got home, Kaira smelled the garbage still. "We smell like garbage." Eliot chuckled. "Yeah. Shower?" Kaira teased, setting her stuff down and walking to the bathroom. "Hell yeah." Eliot said as he followed Kaira to the bathroom, starting to strip his clothes off, starting with his shirt. Kaira giggled as she also started striping. They made it to the bathroom and kissed. Kaira got the water running and Eliot watched. Once the water was on, they finished taking of their clothes and got in the shower. Most of the time, they just kissed and admired each other. After a good amount of time, the couple got out of the shower and changed into pajamas, and went to bed.</p><p>In the morning, Eliot drove him and Kaira back to the office. They met with Parker and Hardison, who were in their outfits for court. "I guess Alice wasn't so bad. Her shoes are more comfortable than mine." Parker said. "That's because they're your shoes." Eliot said. "She likes rainy days." Parker said. They sat down with Sophie and Nate as he pulled up some information. "Guys, Take a look at this." Nate said. He pulled up a news article on the screen that said Tobey Earnshaw bought Mumbai International, which Sophie didn't even really work for. "Are you kidding?" Hardison said. "Wow." Eliot said, surprised. "Damn." Kaira commented. "I can't believe this." Hardison said. "Earnshaw bought Mumbai." Eliot said. "She's really doing everything to buy Live Herbly, huh." Kaira commented. "She's protecting her investment, eliminating the competition." Nate said. "We are so screwed." Parker said. "Shit, you're right, Parker." Kaira groaned as she laid her head down. "She just spent millions of dollars on a company I don't really work for." Sophie said. "How did she even know we were talking a deal?" Eliot asked. "Dammit. Earnshaw isn't just watching the jury, she's watching Quint." Kaira realized, groaning more. "Reading his emails, tracing his phone, probably got a few guys on him." Hardison said. "Well, this just got more complicated." Kaira said, upset. "What are we suppose to do now?" Parker asked. "We win the trial." Nate said, standing up. Kaira perked up. "Nathan, you said winning the trial wasn't an option." Kaira said, unamused. "Wha - I'm sorry. The impossible trial? The trial that can't be won?" Hardison said, following Nate leaving. Kaira leaned back and exhaled. Parker and Sophie left and went to another room and Kaira followed. Sophie sat on the desk with Kaira as Parker took down the note cards off the corkboard.</p><p>"I can't do it. I can't convince a whole jury." Parker said, nervous. "We worked on persuasion tactics all week. You did really well." Sophie said, trying to hype Parker up. "Yeah, with you guys. But the people on this jury are normal." Parker said. "Parker, there is no such thing as normal when it comes to people." Kaira said. Parker looked at her. "There isn't a single normal person on this jury." Sophie said. "The old lady who knits potholders at lunch isn't normal?" Parker questioned. "The one who keeps showing you pictures of her grandchildren?" Sophie confirmed. "Parker, have you noticed anything off about the photos?" Kaira asked. "No." Parker all but whispered. "She hasn't seen those grandchildren in years. She's trying to convince anyone who will listen that she's got this big happy family." Kaira said. "You don't know that." Parker said, pacing. "Parker, we read people for a living. That's our thing. Okay, Charlie, the messenger guy - you know, the one with five kids?" Sophie said. "Gay?" Parker guessed. "Bulimic. Trevor, the frat boy, however - yeah, super gay." Sophie said. Parker chuckled a bit. "What about Peggy?" Parker asked. "Actually, Peggy is pretty normal." Kaira said. "But the rest of them - they all have their own Alice White. You just - you just happen to give yours a name." Sophie said, standing up. Kaira stood up. "Parker, would you believe me if I told you I have social anxiety?" Kaira asked. "No. You're always happy around us." Parker said. Sophie looked at Kaira sympathetically. "It's true. As a kid, I was always bullied for being uncomfortable around crowds and for not speaking in front of the class. My mom told me when I was a kid that the world won't conform to you if you aren't comfortable in it, so you have to adapt. So, I started acting in theater, doing restaurant jobs to get money for an apartment, always volunteering first, and always tried to be happy. I managed, but it was in the army that I finally got comfortable around people. Truth be told Parker, part of the reason I'm a grifter is because I wanted to break away from my comfort zone. The only way to be able to get more comfortable in a situation is to experience it over and over again. You will do fine. Just break your mold and breathe. You'll do good." Kaira said, giving Parker a hug. Parker hugged her back. Parker walked away. Sophie went up by Kaira. "That was beautiful, Kaira. I would never have thought that you had any discomfort in any social situation we've had." Sophie said, shocked. "Well, that's kinda the point, Soph. The only way to get better at something is to do it over and over again." Kaira said. They left and met at the door, where Nate gave Hardison his suitcase and Sophie handed Parker her lunch with smiles from the both of them. Kaira took Hardison aside. "You'll do great, Hardison. Just speak to the jury, not through or over them." Kaira said. Hardison gave a smile and a nod as he left. Parker left right behind him. Eliot walked up to Nate and Nate held his arm out to stop Eliot. "Okay, we don't have court today, but we do have some work to do." Nate said. "Am I gonna like this work?" Eliot asked. "Uh, not the first part." Nate said. Kaira chuckled a bit. "Which probably means I'm not gonna like it either." Kaira retorted. Nate told them his plan.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira went to track down Quint and hid, but not before they put a device in Quint's car. He went in his car and drove away. Then another car started following him. Eliot and Kaira walked out in front of the car and Eliot got hit, falling off the hood of the car as Kaira got clipped. She bent down to Eliot, who was on the ground. "No! Baby, are you okay?" Kaira questioned, acting as a concerned bystander. The guys came out and tried to help Eliot up. "Where's these two come from? You all right?" One of the guys asked. Kaira then got up and moved as Eliot hit the guy holding him in the crotch and Kaira punched the other guy in the face. Eliot slammed his guy in the car and Kaira kicked her guy in the crotch and then punched him in the face, knocking him out. Eliot punched his guy, knocking him out. Eliot and Kaira grabbed the guys and locked them in the trunk. Eliot pulled his phone and put his index finger to his ear. "We planted the device in Quint's engine, took care of the guys that Earnshaw sent after Quint. And you should have him in... three, two..." Eliot tapped a button on the phone to overload Quint's engine. "...one." Eliot said. Nate went up to Quint and grabbed his cellphone and gave it to Sophie. Sophie went to go to some places and Eliot and Kaira drove back. Kaira heard Hardison talk to the jury. She was proud of him. Eliot and Kaira arrived back at the office and sat down, waiting for Hardison and Nate to show up as they watched Parker get ready to talk to the jury.</p><p>Nate and Hardison sat down. "Yeah, it's the end game - all on her now." Nate said. Kaira was a bit nervous. Kaira could see Parkers' eyes go wide. "You'll be okay, Parker." Kaira said. Kaira turned around and looked at Hardison. "You did good, Hardison." Kaira smiled at him. She turned back around and watched the trial. Hardison played with Earnshaw's feed. He then got the call that the jury was back. He left to hear the verdict. The team left to meet Quint and Earnshaw, but not before making a stop at her warehouse. Kaira grabbed a chess piece and left. They went to the courthouse. They waited outside the door as Quint and Earnshaw left, obviously upset. Kaira had heard on her comm that Vargas won. Quint looked at Sophie. "Remember me? Looks like you should have settled." Sophie said, bowing her head and putting her hands flat together in front of her. Quint realized he was played. Earnshaw did too. Kaira and Nate went up to her as Quint left. Eliot stayed behind. Nate held up the chess piece and let it drop in her hands. Nate walked away, a cocky look on his face. Kaira had a similar look. "Checkmate, bitch." Kaira said, walking away. She met up with Eliot, and he held out his arm for Kaira to grab. "That was really hot, Princess." Eliot said, swallowing. Kaira chuckled at her boyfriend's looks. "That felt really good." Kaira said, amused. They met the rest at the car and got Parker a burger as she was bitching about having to eat vegetarian food all week for the trial. Parker sat down with her food and was all but salivating. Eliot sat down and sat a six-pack of beer on the table. Kaira sat next to him as they both watched the sports games on tv. "Oh, sweet mercy. Cooked flesh." Parker said, taking a bite of her burger, closing her eyes to enjoy it. "Can we get fast food every time we make the bad guys go away?" Parker said. Kaira chuckled. "Why not." Kaira smiled. Nate and Hardison sat down at the table and watched the game. Parker's phone rang and she looked at it. "Hey, it's Peggy from the trial! She wants to have coffee next week." Parker took a bite of her burger. "Mmm. Alice made a friend." Parker said, happy. "I'm gonna tell you this one more time. You made a friend, not Alice." Eliot said. "Oh, cool. Well, think she'd want to steal a painting with me?" Parker asked. Kaira laughed a bit. "Start small, Parker. Try coffee." Sophie said, eating one of Parker's fries. They just sat and ate while watching the game. Kaira leaned into Eliot, content. Eliot placed a soft kiss on his girlfriend's forehead. They both smiled as they went back to watching the game. Kaira knew she wasn't going to let these guys go. They were her family now. She loved that.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. The First David Job (1x12)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In order to help Nate with his drinking problem, Sophie suggests to the team to go after Ian Blackpoole, the CEO of Nate's old company, I.Y.S, and the man who allowed for Nate's son to die. It very quickly goes south when Kaira and Nate suspect a team member of not having kosher motives.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate got out of the taxi, looking drunk. Kaira watched as he stumbled to the entrance. Kaira was acting as a guest, watching the crowd. She kept an eye on Sophie and Eliot, who were also at the party. Sophie and Eliot were playing art experts. Nate headbutted a security guard and the target went up to him. Nate had grabbed the gun and cocked it and pointed it right at the target, an older blond man in a suit. "Are you here to kill me, Nate?" The man asked, unconcerned. "Not tonight." Nate said, still aiming the gun at the target's head. "Well, in that case, come in. There's shrimp." He said. The target walked away as Nate lowered and uncocked the gun. "I do love shrimp." Nate said. Nate tossed the gun. Kaira watched Nate and the target walk. "My wing at the museum opens this week. A little celebration for the fund-raisers." The target said. "Yeah, blood money buys the best art." Nate said, going to the bar and opening a decanter, and pouring the liquid in a glass. "I heard a rumor that you'd-" The target said. Nate took a swig of his drink. "I'm here to sell you something, Ian." Nate said. "I don't need anything, Nate." Ian said as Nate whispered in his ear. Kaira watched nervously. This job was important for everyone involved. "You're lying." Ian said. "Lying to you would not be worth my time." Nate said. Ian called for Portia. Portia was actually Sophie. Sophie walked over to Nate and Ian. "Portia, this is Nathan Ford. He used to work for me. This is Portia DelDuccio from the Vatican Museum." Ian introduced them. "Buona Sera, Signore Ford." Sophie said in an Italian accent.</p><p>
  <span>Two Weeks Earlier at Leverage Headquarters</span>
</p><p>The team gathered in the meeting room. Sophie told them she had an idea to help Nate with his drinking problem. She handed them cards and waited for Nate to show up. Sophie was at the right end, then Eliot, Kaira, Hardison, and Parker was on the left end. Nate did show up. "Hello?" Nate said, slurring. "Where is everybody?" Nate said, still slurring his words a bit. Nate opened the door to the meeting room. It was obvious to Kaira he was drunk. "All right guys, what's going on?" Nate asked. "Ian Blackpoole. C.E.O of I.Y.S Insurance." Parker said. "Millionaire, famous art collector." Hardison said. "Two years ago, Ian refused the claim for your son's treatment, leading to his..." Kaira was saying. "Enough!" Nate yelled. Kaira exhaled, showing her annoyance. "Oh. Drunk again?" Sophie questioned, unamused. "Are we still unclear? I'm a functioning alcoholic, you know? And the trick is not to get hung up on the "alcoholic", but celebrate the "functioning" part of the sentence." Nate said. "You're getting worse." Eliot said. "This - this is messing you up, man." Hardison said, reading his card. "We can't keep watching you do this to yourself." Parker said, also reading her card. "Is this my intervention? Are my bags packed and in the car, ready to take me to rehab?" Nate questioned. "No. Though that was the second idea." Kaira said. They all threw their cards on the table in frustration. Eliot rubbed his face. "You don't need rehab, Nate." Sophie said, walking to him. "You need revenge." Eliot said, coming behind Sophie. Nate looked at the image on the monitor. Their target: Ian Blackpoole - the man who ruined Nate's life. Who allowed an innocent child to die. Who led Kaira's friend, and father figure, to the downward spiral of losing everything. If it wasn't for her no killing role, she would have already put a bullet in Ian's skull. But humiliating Ian would be much more satisfying.</p><p>
  <span>Back at the party</span>
</p><p>Kaira continued watching the interaction. Kaira and Eliot were flirting with each other and talking with a blond woman. "Portia here is negotiating for a loan for some of the Vatican collection to my wing." Ian said. "Ian has the most wonderful collection of Renaissance Art I've seen outside Roma." Sophie said as Portia. "Well, his collection's gonna be better than Rome's if he writes me a check." Nate said. "Where's your art expert?" Ian asked. "Oh, there is, uh, Professor Sinclair." Sophie said, nodding to Eliot's direction. Eliot and Kaira were still chatting with the blond. "You want I call him over?" Sophie asked. "No. No, not yet. Come on. Follow me. My restoration vault." Ian said, leading the way. "Oh. What's this about?" Sophie asked. Nate was following behind. "He's found the Second David." Ian said. "Oh!" Sophie said, excited.</p><p>
  <span>Flashback to Leverage Headquarters</span>
</p><p>Sophie had the team sit down as she explained her plan. "Michelangelo's David. The most famous statue in the world." Sophie said, turning around to look at the screen. She turned back around. "Sculpted between 1501 and 1504, commissioned by the city of Florence. Like all sculptors, Michelangelo made small-scale models, or, well, what's commonly known as maquettes, first." Sophie explained. "I-I know all this." Nate said, unsure why he listened to that. "No, no, no. See, while you are well-versed in dead-guy art, I myself am not. My entire criminal career is based on technology built after 1981. So I am riveted, quite so. Please, do go on." Hardison told Nate off. Sophie smiled and pulled up the images of the Two Davids. "He famously made two models for the statue, Clay-fired, then bronzed, identical. Over the last 400 years, they have been sold, lost, stolen, rediscovered dozens of times." Sophie informed them. "Who has them now?" Hardison asked. "Well, the Second David was stolen from the Vatican 10 years ago. And, well, it's never been found. And the First David... well..." Sophie said.</p><p>
  <span>At the Party</span>
</p><p>Ian, Sophie, and Nate went into the vault. Kaira knew Nate was taking in all of the information about the exhibit. "Man, am I glad I don't have to break in there. That is one sick security system." Hardison said. "What, with our tools? Give me three days of prep, It'd be like taking diamonds from the French National Bank. That's like taking candy from a baby." Parker said. "I got it." Hardison said. "A very easy thing to do." Parker said. "Got... it." Hardison said, annoyed. Parker and Hardison were in the van on the lookout. "Oh, look little buddy. That's your new home!" Parker said in a high pitched baby voice. "Parker." Kaira warned. "Can you please not play with the little naked man? Please." Hardison asked. "I'm not." Parker whispered.</p><p>
  <span>Flashback to Leverage Headquarters</span>
</p><p>Sophie continued laying out the plan. "We sell Blackpoole a fake second David. You know he's gonna insure it with I.Y.S." Sophie said. "Then we let him put it on display in his museum." Parker said. "And when it's discovered as a fake, his own company, I.Y.S, accuses Blackpoole of fraud." Hardison said. "And the son of a bitch bastard is out on his ass." Kaira said, smirking at the idea. "His reputation's ruined. Nobody will ever work with this guy again." Eliot said, liking the idea. "Only one problem." Nate stood up. "He is not gonna buy the fake David until he has it verified by an expert." Nate said, standing by Sophie. "That's right. By one of us." Sophie said. "And how do you guarantee that?" Nate asked. Sophie scoffed.</p><p>
  <span>At the Party</span>
</p><p>Sophie, Nate, and Ian talked some more. Nate gave Ian the time frame to buy the David. Tomorrow. Sophie tried to insist that Ian donate it to the Vatican, but Nate argued saying he has an oilman who wants to buy it and slap it on a mantelpiece. Ian said he'd buy it, but donate it after he died. Sophie said she wanted "Professor Sinclair" to examine it. They exited the building and went back to the crowd. "Eliot. Eliot." Nate said, grabbing a glass. "What? Give me a second. I'm hitting it off here." Eliot said. "Bring her along. It'll help sell the character, but now - do it now." Nate ordered. Then Ian came from behind. "Nate. Why did you come to me?" Ian asked. "Well, I knew you'd pay the best price. Renaissance art is your life. Guilt was a bonus." Nate said. "You hate me." Ian said. Kaira tried really hard to keep a straight face and not punch Ian. "Yeah. Of course, I hate you. I mean, what - what? You think I want to be here? I don't have a choice, all right?! I'm drunk, I'm broke, I'm living out of my car, I just want the paycheck, and at this point, I don't care where it comes from." Nate exclaimed. Eliot, Kaira, and the blond were behind him. "Nate?" The blond questioned. Nate turned around. "Maggie." Nate said, surprised. Kaira gasped a bit but tried to keep a straight face. "You guys - you know each other?" Eliot asked, trying not to break character. "Of course. Maggie is Nate's ex-wife." Ian said. Eliot tried to stay calm. It was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. "What is she doing here?" Parker asked. "Guy, guys, s-stay in character." Hardison said. "Nate Ford." Nate extended his hand. "Hi. Sky Davis. This is my boyfriend, Adam Sinclair." Kaira said, shaking Nate's hand, trying to break the uneasiness. Kaira managed to keep her nerves in check. Nate moved his hand over to Eliot to shake. "Yeah, Maggie here is, uh, my ex-wife." Nate said. "Yeah. Caught that." Kaira said. Sophie walked over before Eliot could embarrass himself more. "Signora Ford, Signora Davis?" Sophie said. "Collins. I use my maiden name." Maggie said. "Oh. Scusi. Do you mind if I borrow Professor Sinclair for a moment? Yes, uh, we must talk with Mr. Blackpoole. Gratzie." Sophie asked. "Yeah. Just as long as you get him back to me in one piece." Kaira flirted a bit as Sophie took Eliot away. Kaira turned back to Maggie.</p><p>"Uh, Maggie, I'm gonna leave you two alone. It was nice meeting you." Kaira said, giving her a hug. Maggie hugged Kaira. "You know, I think it's badass you use your maiden name." Kaira smiled as she left. "Which conversation do you want to listen to?" Parker asked. Kaira went over by the bar and grabbed a drink and took a long swig. "That's what stereo was made for." Hardison said. Maggie was sympathetic to Nate, saying she had no idea things were hard for him. Kaira was confused. Hardison warned Nate to stay in character. "Why is Maggie working with the guy who killed her son? And why isn't she mad at Nate?" Kaira wondered to herself. Then it hit her. "She doesn't know, does she?" Kaira realized to herself. Nate and Maggie talked while Sophie still talked with Ian and Eliot. "She's pretty." Sophie complimented Maggie. "They met while he worked with me. Maggie's an art expert - helped him track down fraud. Quite a glorious pair for a while - very Nick and Nora." Ian said. Kaira groaned at this development. "Looks real. There's a technique that Michelangelo uses when he works with clay, and... I mean, I'd obviously have to take a closer look at it, but, yes sir." Eliot said. Nate was trying to say he didn't need money, but then Hardison yelled at him and said he needed this deal. Maggie said to go get the deal and walked away, leaving a stammering Nate to follow. Maggie walked up to Ian, Sophie, and Eliot. "What's Nate here for?" Maggie asked. "It's an art sale, but private." Ian said. "I'll verify the art." Maggie said. Kaira stumbled a bit. "No! She can't examine the art, or she'll blow the whole thing." Kaira said. "Scusi. No. We agreed - no outside people." Sophie said. "No, no, no. No, that's all right. I-I've been a little hesitant. No offense, but I don't know you that well." Ian said. "But you know me. You know my reputation. If my presence will help you close the deal, then I'm in." Maggie said. "Agreed. My one condition. Maggie examines the sculpture or I walk." Ian said. "We have to. I have a hunch. Accept the condition Nate." Kaira said. "What? No." Hardison argued. "Hardison, trust me. I've been reading Maggie all night. Just trust me this once." Kaira begged. "Agreed." Nate said. He and Sophie left to go get drinks.</p><p>"Now, Nate... is Maggie a very good art inspector?" Hardison asked. "Yeah, she's the best." Nate said. "No, no, no, we can't let your ex-wife anywhere near our little naked man." Parker said. Kaira groaned. "Parker, call it a statue." Kaira said. "We have to show her the real thing. We have to steal the First David right now so we can show it to Maggie tomorrow as the Second David." Sophie said. "That's too risky." Nate said. "Blackpoole knows our faces. We're never gonna get him on the hook like this again. You honestly think that we can fool Maggie with a fake?" Sophie questioned. "No. She's too smart and too experienced. When we worked together, there was nobody better." Nate said, walking away from the bar. "A simple no without the cheerleading would have done. This does complicate things." Sophie said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "All right. Well, one crisis at a time. Parker, get in here." Nate ordered. "No, no. Nate, we haven't done any prep. We don't have our tools." Hardison argued. "You want me to break into a secure storage facility with whatever I can scrounge up at the buffet table?" Parker questioned. "Pretty much, yeah." Nate confirmed. "Cool. I think Sophie left some dresses in here." Parker said. "Let me know if you need anything." Kaira said. She did feel kinda useless at the moment, which she hated. "Princess, you can come over by me and see if I can get Blackpole to agree to let you in." Eliot said. Kaira made her way over. "I'll go too. I, uh, I got a white shirt. I can go waitstaff." Hardison said before going suspiciously quiet. "I'm in." Parker said. Kaira had made her way over and was talking with Eliot and Sophie. Kaira watched as Parker went up to the bar. "A glass of ice, please. I need a big roll of aluminum foil." Parker said. Hardison walked in, looking like the waitstaff. "Uh, um, you know what? I'm gonna just - I'm gonna wrap up some of these shrimp for tomorrow. Breakfast jambalaya, you know." Hardison told another waiter who had foil. "I got it. Now what?" Hardison asked. "I need dark eye shadow." Parker said. "I assume she's talking to you." Eliot said, looking at Sophie. "Scusi. I must go powder my nose." Sophie said, leaving. The three went down into the vault while Eliot and Kaira kept Ian busy.</p><p>"What was it you were talking about?" Kaira asked. "Oh, it was just a private deal me and Mr. Blackpoole made." Eliot told her. "Really? Need me to help? I am good at keeping secrets." Kaira questioned, acting innocent. "No, I think we have plenty of people involved already. We don't need more." Ian said. Kaira thought a moment. "Well, part of my business with Adam is knowing about his deals, as I schedule everything. So, I must be there so I can make sure it all goes smoothly." Kaira said, showing some control. "Alright. Promise you won't tell anyone." Ian said. "I promise." Kaira said. They chatted some more when Nate came over. "Door's got a silent alarm. You should hide. We should pretend to make out." Parker said. "Make what?" Hardison questioned, getting flustered. Then they heard kissing sounds and tried to keep their covers. Then the guards must have come over and Hardison and Parker got them to leave. Then Parker asked for the makeup as Hardison was still dealing with the kiss. It was a moment before Parker spoke. "Eye shadow." Parker said. "Um, can we talk about what just happened?" Hardison questioned. "Weird, huh." Parker said. "You could say that." Hardison said, chuckling. "Nate's ex-wife coming out of nowhere." Parker said. "Yeah. No, no, that's - that's not what I meant at all." Hardison said. It was a moment before they spoke again. "Chew some gum." Parker said to Hardison. "Is my breath funky?" Hardison said before exhaling could be heard. Sophie had come up and went by Eliot and Kaira. "Which one of you did she kiss?" Eliot. Sophie sighed. "Obviously it was Hardison." Kaira whispered. "T-1300 Makashita. We got about 10 seconds, even in the blindspot, before it picks up our body heat." Hardison said. "Stick your gum on here." Parker said. Hardison realized what Parker was doing. "Ha ha! Gotcha. Yeah, can't pick up our heat through the ice. Nice." Hardison realized. Kaira was kinda amused. It went silent again before Hardison got worried. "Parker, Parker, what are you - no, no, no. What are you doing? This system resets in like five minutes. You know what? Okay, I want you to know, if you set off the lasers, I'm running like a bat out of hell. I pray you can keep up - just saying. What are you - Park - s -" Hardison was freaking out before chuckling. "You're reflecting the beams back. Sweet." Hardison realized. "You did not just think about this on the way in from the van." Hardison said. "Some people do crosswords." Parker said. Nate had walked with Maggie. "Nate, we're almost done." Hardison said. Nate didn't respond. "Nate can you hear me, I just said we're almost done." Hardison said again. "Yeah, he heard you." Kaira said. Maggie said that she still cared about Nate. "Great!" Sophie exclaimed in her normal voice. Kaira looked at her with dagger eyes. "Portia, don't practice your accent here." Kaira argued. This was the only time Kaira had heard of Sophie breaking cover. "Get it over with." Eliot ordered. All of a sudden Kaira heard car alarms going off. Kaira figured it was for the vibration alarm on the statue. Hardison told Parker off for throwing the David statue at him. Nate told Maggie he had to leave. Maggie offered him a place to stay, and Nate declined. He met with Eliot and Kaira. "Adam! Sky!" Maggie got their attention. "Uh, yeah?" Eliot said. "Let me give you my number." Maggie said. Kaira accepted and got her number. They left and met back up at the office.</p><p>"I don't want to talk about it." Nate said. "It was only to coordinate where we were gonna go." Eliot said. "Not talking about it." Nate said. Parker went over and grabbed Nate and Eliot's shoulders. "We just stole an eight million dollar staue on like, our day off!" Parker exclaimed, sitting down the statue. "Yeah, and we're giving it back." Nate said. "Technically, we're selling it back." Hardison said. "Doesn't it seem like there might be a better way? I mean, let's just think about it, huh? What if both of Blackpoole's statues were fake, right? It would be even worse for him. The David he's had on display for years, insured and verified by I.Y.S." Sophie suggested. Kaira sensed something weird with her voice. "Wait. Every sale he's made in the last ten years would have to be audited." Hardison said, liking the idea. "He wouldn't just lose the company. His own board of directors would sue him." Sophie said. "He'd be finished for good." Kaira realized. Nate was silent. "I'd like a word with you right now." Nate said, leaving for his office. Sophie followed as Eliot whistled. "That ain't good." Hardison said, nervous. Sophie walked into Nate's office and shut the door. The gang at the table could hear everything. "I know that voice. That's the voice you use on a mark." Nate said, accusingly. "I can think of a dozen other times an opportunity like this lands on our laps. We take it!" Sophie argued. "You don't con us. You don't con your own team." Nate argued back. "You're just getting cold feet because your ex-wife could blow it for us!" Sophie exclaimed, taking the heat off her. Kaira knew something was off with Sophie's intentions. "Oh, Maggie - Maggie wouldn't." Nate argued. "Maggie, who works for the man who let your son die? She doesn't have a problem with that!" Sophie exclaimed. "She doesn't know!" Nate yelled. Kaira perked up and exhaled. She was right. "She doesn't know that I.Y.S... and Blackpoole denied Sam's treatment." Nate said, calming down some. "How can she not know?" Sophie asked. Nate sat down. "She doesn't know... because I never told her. She pities me. Didn't you see that?" Nate said. Sophie exhaled and sat down. "You're lying to her, Nate. You're not who she thinks you are." Sophie said. "She thinks I'm a drunk... maybe even a criminal." Nate said. "You're still an honest man, Nate. It's the rest of the world that's gone crooked." Sophie said. She went silent for a moment. "Do you want to walk away?" Sophie asked. "How many other kids died just like Sam because this bastard put his profits above their treatment? How many? And it's not just me and Sam. I mean, that is what I keep telling myself." Nate said. Kaira could tell he was emotional. Sophie walked to the door and said something to Nate. Kaira then walked into his office.</p><p>Nate looked like Hell. He had tears in his eyes and his nose was red. Kaira sat down opposite of him. "Nathan. I'm sorry about what happened to your kid. No one in the world should have to go through that. Especially an honest, good man like you." Kaira said softly. She placed a hand on Nate's shoulder. Nate grabbed it on comfort. "What made you stay?" Nate asked. "You changed me, Nathan. You helped me to do good in this world. In a way, you broke me down and rebuilt me to be better." Kaira said. She was getting emotional. "Thank you. For staying." Nate said, giving a slight smile. "Thank you for giving me a chance." Kaira smiled. She went to hug Nate, but Nate pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her neck. Kaira rubbed his back to calm him down. Kaira hummed softly. They stayed like that for a while until Nate was calmed down enough. "You ready to get this bastard?" Kaira asked Nate. "Ready." Nate told her. They walked out of the office. Kaira and Eliot went home. Kaira sat on the bed and was numb. Eliot sat down next to her and pecked her cheek. "What's wrong? And don't say nothing because I know it's bullshit." Eliot said. Kaira turned to face Eliot. "How in the hell can Nate even function with the guilt he has? I mean, living all your life knowing that your old boss let your son die, and not telling your wife? I mean how did she not suspect anything when Nate started drinking. All she had to do was ask Nate if he was okay. Even if he lied, she could've suspected something was wrong. But she did nothing! And Nate paid the price." Kaira started ranting. "I don't know, Princess. All I know is that sometimes grief can make people do things we can't explain." Eliot said. They hugged. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened." Kaira said, wiping her eyes, which were starting to form tears. "Nate's like a father to you, ain't he?" Eliot said. "Yeah. I mean, he did change our lives. He made us who we are today. He helped me get the courage to admit my feelings for you. He lead me to think about our future." Kaira said. Eliot nodded in understanding. "I understand. Why don't you head to bed? We got a long day tomorrow." Eliot said. Kaira agreed and the next day, they got ready to do the deal.</p><p>Kaira drove Eliot and Nate to the airport. "Hardison. Three minutes before they arrive." Nate said. "Gotcha, boss." Hardison said before talking to the pilot and co-pilot to get the plane. "You ready?" Kaira asked Nate and Eliot. He was sitting on the chair. "We're up." Nate said just as Maggie and Ian arrived. They said hi and shook hands. "An interesting place to meet." Ian said. "Nathan Ford?" Parker said behind the desk. "Yeah?" Nathan said, the group going to the desk. "I've got a call here from flight 7-tango-8-2, inbound from Dubai. They'd like to know if your party's here." Parker said. "Yes. We're all here. Where are they?" Nate asked. "They're just pulling in now." Parker said. Nate gestured for them to follow. "I'll stay behind and keep the car warm, Adam." Kaira said, giving Eliot a smile. Kaira went out and followed. Maggie told them it was real. Kaira met them upfront. Maggie revealed she had fun and it reminded her of when she'd help Nate get his merch back. She also said for him to call her and left. Eliot and Kaira walked up to him. Eliot and Kaira went around the back. Sophie met with Ian to give him some stuff from the Vatican. Nate punched Ian. Ian asked if he felt better. Nate said he did. Kaira couldn't blame him. Ian left with the fake David. "Was that absolutely necessary?" Sophie asked in her normal voice. "He wouldn't have believed a handshake. And it felt good." Nate said. "Hardison, where are you?" Nate asked. "Halfway home already, Nate." Hardison said. "You got it?" Nate asked. "I've got the money right here." Hardison said. Eliot and Kaira saw a guy with a camera taking pictures. "I'm gonna count to three." Eliot said. The guy then turned around and punched Eliot, sending him into the barrels. "Nate, we're blown!" Kaira yelled before the guy, who Kaira realized was Quinn, a guy she and Eliot once did business with, punched her. "We are blown!" Kaira and Eliot yelled, but both their comms were out of their ears. Eliot went to crawl to his comm, but Quinn kicked him in the ribs multiple times. "That rib's broken." Quinn taunted. Eliot was groaning, which only fueled Kaira. She crawled to her comm, but Quinn kicked her in the ribs multiple times. Kaira was groaning and holding her chest, moaning in pain. "And your rib is broken. He said you'd be tougher than this." Quinn taunted again. Eliot stumbled up, but Quinn pushed him a bit and Eliot got ready to fight.</p><p>Kaira stood up and went for her comm, but Quinn turned and punched her in the face, knocking her down and then threw her into the barrels. Kaira groaned in pain more as Eliot yelled for her. Kaira chuckled as Quinn went over to Eliot. "I would laugh, but it'd hurt to much. You're so stupid, Quinn. You just pissed off the bull." Kaira said. Eliot used the lack of focus to tackle Quinn, but Quinn pushed him out of the way. Kaira got up and Quinn just kept punching her in the face. She went down, groaning. She knew she had multiple rib fractures. Eliot steadied himself, but Quinn managed to dodge Eliot's hits and hit him in the back. Kaira tried to get up, but Quinn kicked her again. Quinn then tackled Eliot through the luggage. Eliot got up to fight, but Quinn threw him across the floor. Eliot stumbled back up and Kaira stood up, steadying herself. Quinn kept jabbing Eliot with his left hand. "Better keep that left up." Quinn taunted. Quinn kept punching Eliot, but he dodged one and Quinn and Eliot kneed each other and Quinn punched Eliot, making him stumble. Kaira then leaped on Quinn's back, using the belt she quietly took off and used it to start choking Quinn. Quinn grabbed Kaira's shirt and pulled her over him, landing straight on her back. She groaned in even more pain. Eliot went after Quinn, but they quickly backed off after landing some good punches on each other. "Why won't you go down!" Quinn exclaimed. Kaira managed to push through the pain and stand up. Quinn looked at her, shocked. "Because we're just too damn stubborn." Kaira retorted, gaining the adrenaline. Eliot chuckled, blood dripping from his mouth. Quinn rammed into Eliot. Eliot and Kaira grabbed him and kneed him hard into the ribs. "Now that rib's broken." Eliot said. They threw him to the ground. Kaira superman punched Quinn, knocking him down. Kaira and Eliot ran to their comms and placed them. "Nate, we're blown!" Kaira yelled, breathing heavy, from the pain as they walked away, holding their chests from the broken ribs. "Nate..." Eliot said before Nate cut him off. "Eliot, Kaira, what's going on? Talk to me, Eliot. Kaira." Nate said.</p><p>"Hello, Nate. Love this technology." A male voice with a British accent came across on comms. "What do you want, Sterling?" Nate asked. "Well, first, let's see how many birds we have in hand. You know this is Parker's. Now, Alec Hardison?" Sterling said. "Accounted for, Mr. Sterling. And we have the cash, too." Another guy said. "Marvelous. Mr. Spencer, Miss Newton?" Sterling said. "Hey, Sterling. I got some dental work with your name on it. What do you say me and you hook up so I can give it to you?" Eliot said, panting in pain. "Sterling, don't even bother threatening any one of us. You won't get anything. The only thing that'll get you is my foot up your British ass, you son of a bitch!" Kaira exclaimed, getting out her anger. Eliot and Kaira started walking to the cars. "Seems that Mr. Quinn was not quite as effective as promised. Still, two birds in the hand are worth three in the bush." Sterling said. "Eliot, Kaira, stay low." Nate ordered. "Got it, boss." Kaira said. "Sterling, what do you want?" Nate asked. "Tell you what - why don't you meet me in the place where we used to go for a drink after work? I'll come alone. I promise." Sterling said. Kaira heard a thud, so she assumed a comm was thrown. And Kaira knew the guys who had Hardison weren't listening to the comms. Kaira and Eliot got to the car. "I'm driving." Eliot said. "No, I am. You have a concussion." Kaira argued. Eliot blocked Kaira from getting in the driver's seat and she walked to the passenger seat. Kaira and Eliot both moaned and groaned getting in. "Yep. Definitely have broken ribs, probably multiple stress fractures. Oh, and probably a concussion." Kaira said, trying to smile through the pain as she put on her seatbelt. "What now?" Eliot asked, slowly getting on his seatbelt. "We wait until dickwad and Nate meet, then we get Parker and Hardison." Kaira suggested. Eliot turned the key and started driving to the offices. After a bit of time, Nate and Sophie went to the I.Y.S office roof.</p><p>"Do you remember when we were friends? After work, we used to come up here, have a drink, watch the sunset." Sterling said. "We were never friends, Sterling." Nate said, not happy. "So the answer to my question would be no, then." Sterling said. "What do you want?" Nate asked. "A trade." Sterling said. "No." Nate said. "Come on. It's no big deal. I just want the Second David." Sterling said. "Well, you got it. It's on the truck. Parker couldn't make the switch." Nate said. Kaira stayed silent, wondering where this was going. "Not the First David. The Second David. 10 years ago, I was the investigator when it went missing from the Vatican. I want it." Sterling said. "Well, I don't have it." Nate said. "Of course you do. Just ask yourself one question. Who came up with the plan to break Ian Blackpoole?" Sterling said. Kaira leaned back in the seat and looked at Eliot. She muted her comm. "Son of a bitch! I knew Sophie didn't have kosher motives!" Kaira exclaimed but groaned again. Eliot groaned too. "You've got to be kidding me!" Eliot exclaimed. "I knew you'd come after Blackpoole eventually. You had to. And when you did, I knew that the way in would have to be the First David. She wouldn't be able to resist. It's how she thinks. And I know how you think. Come on, Jenny. Make it official. It's the name she was using back then. Might be her real name for all I know. I've no idea." Sterling said. Kaira was getting pissed. There was a pause. "I stole the Second David 10 years ago. I still have it." Sophie admitted, painfully. "Dammit." Eliot muttered. "I know." Kaira said, understanding. "See? There you go. Wasn't so hard, was it? I want the Second David here, this spot, no tricks, end of day." Sterling said. "I'll bring it." Nate said. "No. I don't know why, but I don't trust the two of you together. So, you will go meet my men at your offices, where I know you'll be safe and sound, and Sophie will bring me the Second David, which I will exchange for Parker. After all, she stole it. How else is she gonna learn?" Sterling said. It was silent for a while. Kaira wanted to get angry and yell at Sophie, but she couldn't. She had to stay cool to get Parker and Hardison to safety.</p><p>Nate drove Sophie to a storage locker. "How much is in here?" Nate asked. "As much as I need. When you found me in Chicago, I told you I'd become an honest citizen. I was just an honest citizen... with a very good retirement plan." Sophie said. She blew on something. "So why the hell didn't you say anything that night?" Nate questioned. "Oh, when you were standing next to your ex-wife? You were in no condition -" Sophie said before Nate cut her off. "Yeah, so, this whole scam to burn Ian was basically to get your hands on the First David, isn't that right, Jenny?" Nate said, not happy. Kaira heard a slap. "Don't you dare pretend this has been a selfless crusade on your part! It wasn't a coincidence that you set up our offices in the same city as Blackpoole. You knew one day you'd go after him and you'd use us." Sophie argued. "Yes. Well, I was right, wasn't I? That is the voice you use for a mark." Nate argued back. "I meant it, Nate. Going after Blackpoole. I wanted to hurt him - for the way he'd hurt you. But I'm a thief. And stealing both Davids... no one's ever done that, not in 400 years. And there it was in front of me, and... and stealing the First David helped you, and it was... I don't know. It was like it was meant to be." Sophie explained herself, her voice going soft. "We're both addicts." Nate said. "We're all addicts, Nate. We're all addicted to our pasts. Don't tell me you weren't tempted when you were talking to Maggie. You wanted to feel how it used to feel. You still think of us as just criminals. There's always gonna be a part of you that thinks you're better than us." Sophie said, getting emotional. "Where do we go from here?" Sophie asked. "We do this." Nate said. "Sterling knows us. He knows how we think." Sophie said. "So, we think like somebody else." Nate suggested. Kaira unmuted her comm. "Okay, I got to get this off my chest or I'm not gonna be able to do this. Sophie, what the hell were you thinking?! You used Nate's son to get the First David, which goes against my rules I play by! And you don't think I wanted to hurt Ian too? Yeah, I'm pissed off at you, Soph! You broke our trust! You used us and Nathan's grief over his son to get the First David. You didn't think about Nate! You only thought of yourself. But then again, you are a grifter. Making people trust you, only to break it in the end. That's what you do. And I am not addicted to my past. I moved on from my past, which it is no secret that it's shady as hell. But I changed, Sophie. I help people now! I can't help but wonder if you were just playing us all along so you could steer us into going after Blackpoole. Normally, I would say screw you and leave, but my friends are on the line, so I will hold it together for as long as I need to to get them safe, but then I am done with you Sophie." Kaira exclaimed, getting all her emotions out. Eliot looked at Kaira and went to hug her. Kaira did the same. They hugged, groaning a bit in pain. Eliot kissed Kaira's forehead, leaving some blood behind. "What's the plan?" Eliot asked, unmuting his comm. Nate laid out the plan. Nate drove Sophie to the I.Y.S building and then drove to the offices.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira also made there way over. Kaira and Eliot were almost at the offices when they heard Sophie. "You said you wanted to see it, Sterling. Parker comes to the middle of the roof. We circle her. You get to the David when I get to the door. Parker comes to me, and we're gone." Sophie said. "I'm not doing anything until know that Nate Ford has turned himself in." Sterling said. Eliot and Kaira arrived just as Nate walked in. A few minutes later, they heard Nate on the comms. "We've got him." A guy said. "Boys." Nate said. There was a moment of silence. "Yeah, he's here." Another guy said. "Put him on." Sterling said. "Tell your guys to cut Hardison loose, let Sophie and Parker go." Nate said. "Of course." Sterling said. He told his guys to keep him. "All right. I'm a man of my word. Let's do this." Sterling said. "You go first." Sterling finished. Kaira and Eliot made their way into the offices. "You know he's got guys at the bottom of the stairs, right?" Parker questioned. "Of course." Sophie said. Kaira and Eliot opened the door and went to the meeting room, where they saw four guys surrounding Nate and Hardison. Both Kaira and Eliot had animalistic looks on their faces. "Four guys?" Eliot questioned. Two more guys showed up. "Six guys?" Kaira questioned. She stood up straighter due to adrenaline. "See, they're good, but they're not that good." A security guy said. "So, how are you gonna get us out of this?" Parker asked. "I had no idea how to get us off this roof. And then I asked myself... what would Parker do?" Sophie said. "With a couple of broken ribs and a concussion each, I don't think our hitter duo can take out six guys. You know, but then I thought, what would Hardison do?" Nate said. Eliot then pulled out his cellphone that sent a high-pitched tone to the comms. Eliot and Kaira took on the four guys behind them as Nate and Hardison took the ones holding them. Kaira could hear Parker yelling in delight as Kaira kept fighting. Finally, they took out everyone. Hardison pointed at Eliot, who pointed back at Hardison and Kaira, and Kaira pointed at Eliot and Nate, who pointed at Kaira and Hardison. Nate got the money and answered the phone as Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison readied the office. "Nate, we're good to go." Kaira said, going to the front with Eliot and Hardison. Eliot called for Hardison, who soon arrived. Hardison got Eliot and Kaira's attention to grab the painting of Old Nate. Kaira groaned but helped Eliot lift it with only minimal complaining. They got out and loaded the paining up in Hardison's car. Kaira watched from afar as the offices blew up. She got a bit emotional. It was like she was destroying a piece of herself. The team met back up and agreed to scatter. They had no choice. Kaira got Hardison to set up her contingency. They all went their separate ways.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot loaded up in his truck and Eliot started the truck. "What's the plan?" Eliot asked. "We go back to our house, gather up anything we can. I cleaned our house yesterday so we should be good there. We load up our clothes and our gear. We throw away our food and burn our cards and I.D's and destroy our phones. I got us a lockbox that has new identities that Hardison never put on Leverage Consulting records. There's also cash and a key to a safe house I bought with my money from the Nigerian Job. You switch the license plates and registration, both in the lockbox, and I'll gather up everything. We load it in your truck, and we drive to the safehouse. We burn our old identities, and our trash at the new place, then we get cleaned up, drink some bourbon, and sleep." Kaira said. "You thought about this before." Eliot realized. "Yeah. Oh, I should add that Hardison put the house on a realtor site, so in case Sterling decides to look at it, anything they could use is destroyed." Kaira continued. "Damn. I didn't know you had this big of a plan if this happened." Eliot said. He started driving. "Well, once we heard about Sterling, I had to make a plan for us. So I had Hardison create us new identities that weren't on file in case Sterling managed to grab them, and I had the house plan in case we had to scatter and go dark. I knew Sterling would be after us, so I made a plan." Kaira explained, getting out her worry. "I'm glad you thought of a plan, Princess." Eliot said, smiling at her. Kaira smiled back. They arrived at their house and got to work. Eliot helped Kaira gather up their dishes and cutlery in boxes. Kaira packed up her and Eliot's clothes as Eliot grabbed their gear. Kaira grabbed the lockbox and opened it. She handed Eliot the license plate and registration to Eliot's truck along with his new identity. She locked the lockbox again and sat it aside. She stripped the beds as Eliot changed the license plates. Kaira put the sheets and blankets in a garbage bag. She put the bathroom towels in another bag as Eliot gathered up the food and garbage. They were done by the time it was almost dark. They loaded everything up and locked the doors, putting the key under the mat. They drove to the safe house. "This is really happening." Kaira said, starting to panic. "Hey, it's okay. In six months we'll see them again. This is only temporary." Eliot said. "I know. I was starting to like having a team again." Kaira said, sad. After an hour of driving, they arrived at the safehouse. It was dark and Kaira and Eliot were in a lot of pain, so they decided to just bring everything inside the house and deal with it tomorrow.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot went into their new two-story house. They brought everything in and sat on their new bed. "This is home." Kaira smiled at Eliot, wanting to lay down, but couldn't. Eliot grabbed the first aid kit as Kaira took off her shirt, then her bra. She had bruises on her ribs. She went to stand up. "Cowboy, let me help you, first." Kaira groaned getting up. "Not happening, Princess. Not until you get help first." Eliot said, stopping Kaira who sat back down and nodded. Eliot wrapped bandages around her chest, holding her ribs in place to heal. Kaira poured two glasses of the bourbon she had Eliot grab before leaving their old house. She sat the one glass on the nightstand and started drinking hers. The cold liquid felt good running down her dry throat. Soon the alcohol worked and her body went numb. Kaira watched as Eliot put cream on her cut lip and her bruised cheek. Kaira put one of Eliot's shirts on and had Eliot sit down on the bed. Eliot grabbed his glass of bourbon and drank it. He took off his shirt and Kaira bandaged up his chest. She applied the cream to his lip and rubbed his head for comfort. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" Eliot asked, using a hand to cup Kaira's face. "I just hate seeing you hurt." Kaira said, nearly in tears. "Hey, don't cry, princess. I'll be okay. And so will you. You have me. As long as we have that, we'll be okay." Eliot said, comforting Kaira. Kaira got up and put the medical kit away. Kaira grabbed pain meds and gave two to Eliot and kept two for herself. She used the remaining bourbon in her glass to take the pain meds. Eliot did the same. Kaira looked at Eliot and Eliot looked at Kaira. The only thing they had at the moment was each other. Which right now, was all they wanted. Kaira walked quickly to Eliot and pushed him on the bed. They locked lips, hard. The taste of the bourbon on their lips got each other drunk and wanting more. They let go, breathing heavily as Kaira took off her shirt. Eliot helped and rubbed his hands on her waist. They went back on the bed, Kaira holding Eliot's face. They kissed again. After a couple of minutes, Kaira rolled on the empty side of the bed and cuddled into Eliot, being mindful of his bruises. They kissed again, this time much softer. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the pain. But at that moment, nothing was going to stop Eliot and Kaira from being in this moment. Just the two of them. That's all they ever needed.</p><p>The next morning, Eliot and Kaira woke up sore and hungover. Eliot went grocery shopping and cooked them eggs and they ate, staying silent. Then they unpacked everything. Later that night, they piled up the trash for the burn pile. Eliot used the cash from the lockbox to buy lighter fluid and matches. Kaira dumped the lighter fluid on the pile as Eliot lit a match. He threw it in the pile and it ignited. Kaira pulled out her old identities and looked at them one last time. Each I.D had a story behind it. She remembered those stories. Then she threw them in the fire. Eliot did the same thing. They watched as their new-old life went up in flames. Kaira flashed back to the office exploding and started crying. Eliot hugged her, mindful of her bruises. Kaira was mourning the loss of the office because that office changed her life. It's where she had 4 new friends, well three minus Sophie at the moment, and she got her boyfriend. This was gonna be their new lives for the next six months. Kaira couldn't wait for things to be normal again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The Second David Job (1x13)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With the team scattered and with no office and broken trusts, they unknowingly come together to finally break Ian Blackpoole three months after the last attempt. After their plans are discovered by each other, they decide to finish the job and take down Ian Blackpoole. Kaira reveals her surprising connection to Blackpoole, and new bonds are formed and mended.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Nate leaned on the Two Davids case. In front of them - Ian Blackpoole holding a gun on Nate and James Sterling, keeping Maggie close. The room was empty, besides the centerpiece. "Where are they?" Ian asked, clearly upset. Nate and Kaira remained calm. "Clear the room. Clear the room!" Sterling ordered. "Are you here to kill me, Ian?" Nate asked, a calm anger to him. Kaira did too.</p><p>
  <span>5 Days Earlier</span>
</p><p>It had been three months since the day Kaira and Eliot had to go into hiding. The place they called home had to be sold and the one place Kaira felt totally safe was blown up. Three months with no contact from the others. Kaira couldn't stand it. She missed the gang and wanted to know how they were. Kaira knew she had to do something big. Kaira woke up next to Eliot and got up. She brewed coffee and opened her laptop. She searched for Blackpoole's exhibit about the Two Davids. Ever since her and Eliot had to go dark, it had been bugging the Hell out of her that she hadn't taken down Blackpoole yet for Nathan. Kaira heard the coffee finish brewing and grabbed a mug. She poured the coffee in the mug and grabbed the milk and creamer. She heard Eliot coming down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen, his hair wet from getting out of the shower. Kaira was pouring in the milk and creamer when Eliot came from behind her and kissed her neck. She giggled. Eliot had been more affectionate towards Kaira since they went dark. It was no secret why. "Eliot, you're gonna make me spill my coffee everywhere!" Kaira exclaimed. Then Eliot lifted her up bridal style and laid her on the couch. He crawled on top of her, peppering her face with kisses as Kaira giggled. He stopped and looked at her. "I love you." He said. "I love you too, cowboy." Kaira said, giving Eliot a kiss. She looked at him, cupping his neck. "Cowboy, you've been more affectionate than usual. You okay?" Kaira asked. Kaira already knew why. "Yeah. It's you, Princess, that has me worried. That's why I've been how I am." Eliot said, honest. Kaira smiled. "My cowboy. Always cares about me." Kaira smiled. Eliot did too. "I am not okay. We lost contact with people I think of as family, the person I looked up to tricked us and lead to us having to blow up the one other place I feel safe. It's been bugging the Hell out of me that we can't go after Blackpoole for Nathan. So yeah I'm not okay. The one thing I thought I was doing right went to shit, and the people I care about paid the price." Kaira said, getting up and pacing. Elliot stopped her. "What if I told you that I made a plan to get Blackpoole?" Eliot said. Kaira perked up. "What? You didn't, cowboy." Kaira said, excited. "Yes. I saw your search history on your laptop. You've been researching Blackpoole's exhibit. I say we hit it in a couple of days for recon." Eliot said. Kaira started grinning in excitement. "What's the plan then?" Kaira asked. "Well, first, we drink that coffee you brewed and I'll cook us some breakfast. Then, I'll tell you my plan on recon for the exhibit. Then, we get started and make us a plan to stop this bastard." Eliot said. Kaira hugged him and kissed his lips. "Sounds like a plan." Kaira smiled. The couple made their way into the kitchen and drank coffee as Eliot told Kaira the plan. They'd both go in as security to gain access to any security codes they needed. Then when they got enough info, they'd make a plan and takedown Ian Blackpoole. They packed their bags later that day to get ready to head to the exhibit location and get a hotel room.</p><p>
  <span>3 Days Earlier</span>
</p><p>Kaira and Eliot had already gotten most of the information they needed. They were completing a round on the second floor when Kaira noticed something. As Eliot and Kaira were walking towards the electrical room, right diagonal from them was a familiar young black man. "Hardison!" Kaira said, in a loud whisper. Kaira was actually happy. Eliot, not so much. "What are you doing here?!" Eliot exclaimed loud whispering. Hardison held his arms out. "Damn it, Hardison." Eliot said, angrily but quietly. "This is my spot. You go." Hardison said, motioning for them to move. "Shh!" Eliot put his finger on his lips and shushed Hardison. Kaira and Eliot saw some more security behind Hardison. "Behind you. Look." Eliot warned, still quiet. "What? What?" Hardison questioned, annoyed. "Behind you!" Kaira exaggerated her lips to make her words clearer. The security guys told Hardison to stay where he was. This caused Kaira to hear another voice. She turned. It was Parker. "Parker?" Kaira questioned. Eliot and Kaira started walking over to Hardison to get him out of his jam, as always. They waited by a door. "Eliot. Kaira." Hardison said. "I got you." Eliot said. "Help me." Hardison said. "We got you." Kaira mouthed. Eliot then grabbed Hardison's arm and flipped him on his stomach. Kaira told the guards to back off. "It's okay. He's a repeat offender. We'll deal with him." Kaira gave a smile as Eliot put cuffs on Hardison and Kaira and Eliot walked him out. Eliot shoved him in the elevator next to them. "Move." Eliot shoved Hardison in. "I'm gonna kick your butt." Hardison kinda threatened. Eliot moved him to the side of the elevator. "I'm gonna kick your butt." Hardison said. "Like you could." Kaira retorted, smiling at him. Kaira got the cuffs off as the elevator neared the first floor. They ran and Kaira saw Sophie and Parker running towards the street, getting chased by security. "What?" Sophie questioned, seeing Kaira and Eliot. She had taken off her black heels and was running with Parker. Then a black car pulled up. Kaira recognized the driver as Nate. She smiled as she neared the car. "Need a ride?" Nate asked. "Please." Kaira said. They got in, kinda squished, but in none the less. Nate drove off.</p><p>Hardison had Nate drive to a white mansion. They got out and started walking to the entrance. "Hardison, what is this?" Nate asked. "Yeah, well, since Sterling blew or covers, I had to find a new safe house. Lay low." Hardison explained, going up the sidewalk steps. "This is your idea of laying low?" Sophie questioned. Parker walked in first as the rest piled in. Eliot and Kaira had taken off their jackets and were holding them, going in. "Wow." Sophie said. "Hey, don't break nothing." Hardison warned. "There's nothing to break." Eliot said. Parker went to were the bathroom was to check the place out. "Who ripped out the toilets?" Parker asked, coming back into the room. "What? Why the hell would you buy a house with no toilets?" Kaira questioned, showing her confusion on her face. "This was an I.R.S foreclosure. I got it cheap." Hardison explained. "I.R.S doesn't take toilets." Eliot said, unamused. "They do when they're solid gold." Hardison said. Kaira's mouth dropped. "Heard this used to be M.C Hammer's place. I guess you can touch this - with a SWAT team and a federal warrant." Hardison said. He started walking down a hallway and the rest followed. They stood in a circle and waited for Nate and Sophie to walk in. "How'd you know we'd be there?" Hardison asked. Nate and Sophie joined the circle. "Last week before the exhibit opens. Security almost in place, but not fully staffed. Best time to case the joint. Plus I did chase all of you at one point or another." Nate said. "Is she in on this?" Eliot asked accusingly, tilting his head towards Sophie. ""She" can hear you, okay?" Sophie said, annoyed. "Wait a minute. There is no "this", Eliot." Hardison said. "Sophie did come back for me." Parker said. Kaira sighed in agreement. "Wouldn't have had to if she wouldn't have lied to you." Eliot said, not happy. "No calls, three months. I don't need you people." Hardison said. Kaira gasped. "Excuse me, Alec, but if it wasn't for me and Eliot, your winy ass would be in lockup right now!" Kaira exclaimed, upset. "I seem to remember a certain job where I backed your play, actually." Sophie said, looking at Eliot. Kaira moved in front of Eliot. "You know what, Sophie, you don't con your own crew! You broke that rule. You also broke one of my rules. Never use anyone's kid against them, dead or alive. That part was what pissed me off the most, Soph. I thought you of all people would know where to draw the line. But you stepped over it and kept moseying. And you know what your excuse was. "I'm a thief." The exact quote. Well, you know, that's a pretty shitty excuse. Even for a grifter." Kaira yelled, getting out more of the pent up anger she had. Kaira took a breath and calmed down. "I came back because I want to see that bastard ruined. For Nathan. For Sam. And for every kid that Ian hurt because he's a selfish prick bastard." Kaira said in a calm anger. Kaira kept it together. They all stepped back. They were shocked at how much anger Kaira had pent up. Nate whistled.</p><p>They turned around. He was looking at the plans on a desk Hardison had out. "Glen-Reeder security system here." Nate said. "That's not the worst of it." Parker walked over to Nate. "The Davids are under bulletproof glass on a motion-detector pad." Parker explained. "Really?" Nate questioned. This caused the rest to walk over to Nate. "Environmentally sealed. kept at a constant temperature and humidity in the case." Sophie explained. "I saw them working on the airflow." Kaira said. "You can get past the motion detectors, okay? I have a link to their security system and the video feed." Hardison explained. "Guard rotation's too heavy for a day grab." Eliot said. "At night they got two standing guards." Kaira explained. Nate turned around. "Why'd you come back? We agreed to scatter for six months. All of you - all of you - made an amateur move being there." Nate said. Kaira chuckled a tiny bit. "It's too hard to leave a job undone. It's like an itch." Parker said. "I put a lot of work into us, into that office. It was like my second home. I blew up my second home." Hardison said, upset. "Can't leave a job undone, can I? Plus I want to see Ian go down in a ball of flames." Kaira said, a calmness to her which freaked the team out some. "As annoying as you people are, I quit this crew, when I quit this crew. Nobody makes me leave." Eliot said. Kaira nodded in agreement. "I just - I really wanted to hurt Sterling." Sophie said. Nate turned to the side. "Well, he's taken over security for the gallery. So if we work together - if we work together, we can kill two birds with one stone - break Blackpoole and humiliate Sterling." Nate said. "No, no. Sterling knows our game, man, okay? It's gonna be twice as hard to steal those statues." Hardison said. Kaira showed she agreed. "Oh, no, no. It'll be four times as hard. They know we're coming." Nate informed the team. Kaira groaned. "Nathan, man, you know you're like a father to me, but what in the actual Hell were you thinking? Talk about preaching to the choir." Kaira groaned at the new knowledge. The team looked at Kaira. "Nate, we all want to hurt these guys, right? They humiliated us. But taunting them? The - the response is going to be... biblical." Sophie realized. Nate moved to behind the crew. "That's what I'm counting on." Nate said, leaving. The team sat down and planned how to get into the exhibit and pull off the job.</p><p>Kaira sat on Eliot's lap as they looked at the plans. Nate walked back in and Sophie went up to him with some papers. "Hey, I think the roof's the way in. But it looks like they've rigged alarm sensors to the skylights." Sophie informed Nate. "I can get around those." Parker said. "Really? And end up on one of the new 20 cameras they got down there from our last little trip to the basement?" Eliot questioned. "That was fun." Parker said. Kaira smiled in agreement. "Yeah. Could we talk about that?" Hardison said to Parker. "Talk about what?" Parker questioned. "You know, none of this takes into account any new security measures that Sterling might have added since Nate made his little play date." Sophie said. Nate looked at his team. "Where is the air coming from? The statues are in a sealed case, kept at a constant humidity and temperature. Air moves in and out. How?" Nate asked. Eliot unfolded the floor plan and him, Parker, and Kaira looked at it. "All right, from what I saw, the airflow to the museum passes through the base of the display, right?" Sophie inferred. "Hollow base underneath the statues, so what's underneath the base?" Nate asked. Kaira visualized the layout. "The restoration room." Kaira realized. "It's like a maze of rooms down there - airflow control, heating, storage." Hardison explained. "How'd we miss that?" Eliot asked. "Grifter, hitter, hacker, thief, jack of trades. You were all trying to solve your version of the crime instead of just trying to... solve the crime. There was a reason we worked together." Nate said. "Yeah... was." Eliot said, looking at Sophie. Kaira gave her a sympathetic look. "Okay, we need access to that restoration room. We need somebody on the inside." Nate said, pointing to the restoration room on the plans. "We can't run a con, Nathan. They know our faces." Kaira pointed out. "What about Maggie?" Parker questioned. "Exactly. I mean, most of the museum people aren't gonna recognize us, but Maggie - she works down there." Sophie said. Kaira realized what Parker was getting at. "Maggie could be our inside woman." Kaira said. "I get it. Just have Eliot and Kaira call her as Dr. Sinclair and Sky Davis. We won't play her. You just feel her out." Hardison said. Kaira groaned. "Have Eliot and Kaira... feel out my wife?" Nate questioned, not liking the plan. "Hardison, why did you have to make it sound dirty? We just talk to her, and see if we can get her to be our inside woman." Kaira said, trying to make the situation less awkward. "Feel out." Eliot said, getting a slap in the arm from Kaira. "Ex, Nate - ex-wife." Sophie pointed out, unamused. "Okay, look, you always have a plan 'B', right? So fine. Without Maggie, what's plan 'B'?" Parker asked. Nate was gonna say something but didn't. They needed Maggie to pull this off. The team left, leaving Eliot and Kaira to call Maggie to set a meeting.</p><p>Eliot put the phone between him and Kaira to call her. "Hello?" Maggie answered the phone. "Hey, Maggie, how you doing?" Eliot said. "Hey, Maggie. It's Sky and Adam." Kaira said. "Sky, Adam. What a nice surprise." Maggie said. "Ease into it. Don't rush her." Nate said. Kaira motioned for Nate to be quiet. "Yeah. Listen, We're in - we're back in Los Angeles for awhile." Eliot said. "You know. I had to ask her out ten times before we even got coffee -" Nate was saying. Eliot motioned for Nate to be quiet. "Did you want to meet up for coffee?" Kaira asked into the phone. Maggie agreed. "We'd love to. Yeah. What time?" Eliot asked. Maggie suggested in an hour. "In an hour? Sounds good. Let me just grab a pen and paper to write down where you want to meet." Kaira grabbed the pen and paper on the desk. Maggie told them. "We know exactly where that place is at. All right. We're looking forward to it." Eliot said, hanging up the phone. "Yeah - All right - no." Nate said, unamused. "Nathan. Maggie isn't interested in Eliot or me for a relationship, just friends to talk to. You really need to move on." Kaira told Nate. "It's not like a date." Eliot reiterated. He put his hair in a ponytail. "Are you kidding me? You're fixing you hair?" Nate questioned, not happy. "Because I'm playing the Professor Sinclair dude!" Eliot exclaimed, getting up and leaving. Kaira followed behind to get ready. Eliot put on some dress pants and a blue flannel and a chocolate-colored suit jacket. Kaira put on a simple light blue dress. She had on the lipstick which drove Eliot crazy. They drove to the coffee shop a bit early and Eliot and Kaira got seats.</p><p>Maggie arrived and sat across from them. They ordered and got their coffee. "There you are." The waitress poured the coffee in Eliot's cup, then Kaira's, then Maggie's. They thanked the waitress as she left. Kaira and Eliot smiled. "You come here a lot?" Eliot asked. "Wouldn't blame you if you did. This is a beautiful place." Kaira smiled. "No. I just wanted to see you two." Maggie said, smiling. Kaira was slightly confused about what the idea was here. They kept talking. The rest were in the van. "That's a date." Sophie said. "Do we really need to put a button cam on Eliot?" Parker questioned. "Safety issue." Nate said. "We're not gonna talk about art are we all afternoon, are we?" Maggie asked. Kaira chuckled. "Oh, god no. We can talk about whatever you want to talk about." Kaira said. "Good. It's all my ex-husband wanted to talk about." Maggie was saying when the waitress came by with menus. "And it was so tedious. Listen..." Maggie sat down her menu and put her hands on Eliot and Kaira's hands. Kaira was slightly uncomfortable but had no choice but to roll with it. "I want to thank you two. I haven't hung out with many people since my marriage broke up." Maggie said, kinda flirting a bit. "I'm sorry to hear that." Eliot said, slightly uncomfortable. "No, don't be. He was obsessive, perfectionist, controlling." Maggie said before opening her menu. "Organized! She used to say I was organized. And punctual." Nate said, flustered. "He must have had some good qualities." Eliot said. Kaira was taking a sip of coffee. "No, not even in bed." Maggie said. Kaira choked on her coffee, trying to not break. "Ooh!" Parker exclaimed. "Every night was prom night. You know what I mean?" Maggie said. Kaira composed herself. "Yeah. I had an ex in high school who was like that. Man was that the worst." Kaira said. Maggie chuckled a bit as Eliot was just uncomfortable. "But worst of all... he completely forgot that I gave him the same button camera for Christmas three years ago." Maggie said. Kaira got up and showed Maggie where the van was and stayed behind as Maggie opened the door. "I can explain." Nate said. Sophie was eating popcorn. They loaded up and drove to the mansion.</p><p>Nate and Maggie were arguing. "I feel used." Eliot said, sitting on the stairs with Kaira, Parker, and Harison. Maggie walked out the door as Nate followed. "It's going great." Nate said, leaving. Parker moved over to Sophie as she was leaning against the wall near the door. "We can tell." Sophie said. Kaira went to another room and listened to the argument. "Maggie!" Nate called out. "And to think I felt sorry for you!" Maggie exclaimed. "Maggie!" Nate called out again. "That whole sob story about being broke and sleeping in your car and a drunk." Maggie said, not happy. "Was! Was broke. Was sleeping in the car. The drunk thing, not quite in the past tense." Nate explained. "What is all this, Nate?" Maggie asked Nate. "This - them... Maggie we help people." Nate explained, breathing a bit heavy. "You break the law." Maggie said. "No - pick up where the law leaves off." Nate said. Kaira smiled a bit. "Wow. You are not the same man I married." Maggie said. "Uh, what -" Nate was saying before Maggie cut him off. "So, who does this help? Blackpoole's a bastard, Nate. He was a bastard when you worked for him. What's changed?" Maggie questioned. It was silent for a while. "Just help me understand." Maggie said. Kaira started tearing up some. Nate was silent for awhile. "I have to tell you something, Mag. Please." Nate said, starting to get emotional. "What?" Maggie questioned. Nate was still breathing heavily. "Mag... when Sam was in stage four, I found a treatment that would've helped him. And I went to Ian to pay for it... and he wouldn't." Nate explained. "He wouldn't?" Maggie questioned softly. "He wouldn't. I told him we had mortgaged the house, sold the car, that we were broke, and he still wouldn't pay the claim. 20 years at that company and they wouldn't help save our son." Nate said. Kaira could tell he was emotional. "Why didn't you tell me this?" Maggie asked. "I work with these people, Nate. I am friendly with them. You just let me walk around like an idiot. He's my son, too." Maggie said, getting emotional as well. "I know. I know." Nate said, emotional. "Why have you been just carrying this around all this time?" Maggie questioned. "I didn't want you to hate me, Maggie." Nate said. "Why would I hate you?" Maggie questioned. Kaira was surprised. All this time and Maggie couldn't blame Nate for not saving their son. "I do. If I had ever seen you look at me the way I looked at myself in the mirror, I would've blown my damn brains out." Nate said, still emotional. Kaira started crying. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Nate said, apologetically. Kaira took out her comm and started crying. Eliot heard her and found her in the room. He hugged her as Kaira cried in his shoulder. She managed to calm herself down and compose herself. She and Eliot walked into the meeting room and Nate went into the plan.</p><p>The order of seating was Hardison, Maggie, Parker, Kaira on Eliot's lap, then Sophie. Eliot massaged Kaira's neck to keep her calm. "So, we reinforce the rebar and replace the concrete. With any luck, they'll never know what hit 'em. And that - that's the plan." Nate finished explaining. "You actually expect this to work?" Maggie questioned. "Um, generally yeah. It's kinda Nate's thing." Kaira said, confused. "No, no, you're supposed to say, "Wow. That's just crazy enough to work."." Hardison said. "Incredibly, chance does seem to bend itself to his bizarre machinations." Sophie said. "That's his superpower." Parker whispered. She then sniffed Maggie. Maggie just looked at her. "Okay, um... Now, do you have what we need?" Nate asked Maggie. "I have to check museum inventory." Maggie said. "Oh. Easy." Nate said as Hardison got to typing. He handed the laptop to Maggie. "This is confidential. You're not reading my emails, are you?" Maggie asked. Hardison chuckled. "No. No." Hardison said. Hardison shook his head yes. Nate eyed Hardison. "He won't - here. This is the only thing big enough for what you need." Maggie said, showing the object to Nate. "Great. Okay. Now, how soon can you get that in the restoration room?" Nate asked Maggie. Maggie laughed a bit. "That's not my department. You have to convince the museum director, Darien Lloyd, to pull it from the display." Maggie explained, closing the laptop and handing it to Hardison. "Okay." Nate acknowledged, turning around. "Nate?" Maggie said. Nate turned back around. "You can't just make somebody do what you want them to do." Maggie said. Kaira chuckled. "Oh." Eliot laughed a little. "That's kinda what we do here." Kaira chuckled a bit. "You're adorable." Parker said, patting Maggie's head. "Parker!" Kaira warned. Maggie was a little confused but was okay. They got up and got ready. Kaira took Maggie aside before they left. "Maggie, I want you to know that I'm sorry about what happened to your son. Nobody, especially a mother, should have to deal with the loss of a child." Kaira said. Maggie smiled a bit. "Thank you." Maggie said. "Listen, Maggie, we really do help people. We help people that are in a similar situation you and Nathan were in. We help people who are hurt by these big corporations that have lawyers and money to cover everything up. We give these people the leverage they need to get the compensation they deserve." Kaira explained. "So you really do pick up where the law leaves off." Maggie said. "Yeah. If it wasn't for Nathan, I wouldn't have found this team. They're like my family. And Nathan's kinda like a dad to me." Kaira explained. "I'm glad Nate's found some people to watch out for him." Maggie said. Maggie and Kaira hugged. They left and met back up the next day.</p><p>Maggie, Parker, and Sophie left. Eliot was waiting for Kaira with Hardison. He gave her a peck on the lips and she sat down on his lap. Eliot then put his hair in a half ponytail. Kaira was smiling. Hardison looked at them weird. "What- why does your girlfriend look like that, Eliot?" Hardison asked. Eliot chuckled. "She likes it when I have my hair like this. This is payback for wearing that lipstick I like during coffee." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled as Hardison groaned in disgust. Sophie, Maggie, and Parker were going in. Kaira, Eliot, Hardison, and Nate were back at the mansion. "Maggie, it won't fall out. Just pretend it's not there." Nate said. "Yeah, just forget my ex-husband's voice in my head. Telling me what he thinks I should do. I'm in therapy to solve exactly this problem." Maggie said, sitting down. "Uh... I - sorry." Nate said. "It does take a little to get used to, don't worry." Kaira said. "What, hearing your ex in your head?" Maggie retorted. Kaira tried to not chuckle as Nate looked disapointed. "The feeling of the comm." Kaira answered. "Um, okay, Parker's on her approach, so I want you -" Nate said before Maggie interrupted. "So nobody else finds it annoying when you nag them in the middle of these things?" Maggie questioned. "Why don't I run this one, Nate?" Sophie suggested. "Yeah. I don't nag. You know, I just have a, you know, clear big-picture viewpoint." Nate said. "You do kinda nag the hell out of us." Kaira said. "Actually, you know what? We did kind of liked the way Sophie ran the last one." Hardison said. "Yeah. Yeah. Right up to the point where she got us caught, but other than that, it was great." Eliot said, eating chips. "Yeah, all right. Fine, fine." Nate gave in. "You're in therapy? How come you didn't-" Nate asked Maggie before Hardison cut him off. "None of that. No. No. Hey, I will cut you off." Hardison warned as Nate argued. "Nathan, you know that is the one thing you don't ask someone who is in therapy. She don't need to tell you why." Kaira told Nate off. "Thanks, Kaira." Maggie said. "You're welcome, Maggie." Kaira said. "What did Parker switch his medications with?" Maggie asked. "Pollen - ragweed mostly. And dextroamphetamines." Sophie explained.</p><p>Kaira groaned. "Ooh." Maggie said. "Remind me to tell Parker to stop using speed on these jobs." Kaira said. Soon Parker made the switch. She bumped into Lloyd and switched out his glasses and his meds. "Okay, why don't you run up to him? Be just a little bit out of breath, it changes the speech rhythms, makes it harder to detect a lie." Sophie ordered. Maggie did just that as Parker was leaving. "Lloyd!" Maggie said, doing what Sophie told her to do. "See? Like that right there. It's informative." Hardison said, eating a chip. "You learn and you con." Eliot said. "Yeah, yeah." Nate said. "You forgot this in my office." Maggie said, handing him the phone Parker lifted. "I - when was that?" Lloyd asked. "Five minutes ago. I showed the designs for the Two Davids exhibit. You signed off on the benches. You okay?" Maggie said. "Good job." Kaira complimented. "Good. Now steer him toward me. Don't tell him. Just give him half an idea. Let him complete it." Sophie ordered. "I'll bring you the rest of the plans after your thing in the Egyptian room." Maggie said. Maggie then left. "I have a thing in the Egyptian room?" Lloyd questioned, confused. He put on his glasses and looked disorientated. Lloyd maked his way to the Egyptian room. He opened up his laptop. "Ahlan biki, director Lloyd." Sophie said in an Egyptian accent. "Dr. Rahman of the Cairo Museum. I was - I was so worried that I had the wrong day." Sophie said in character. Sophie shook his hand. "Oh, no, no. I-I don't have an appointment." Lloyd said, looking at his calendar on his laptop, which showed a meeting. He kept coughing. "Oh, yes, I do." Lloyd said. "Oh, dear, that um - no, that doesn't sound good at all." Sophie said, showing concern. "I've had it for weeks." Lloyd said. "Well, I've confirmed the markings, and I concur - definitely fourth dynasty. The sarcophagus of Pharaoh Menkaure." Sophie explained. Lloyd played with his glasses. "Everything's blurry." Lloyd pointed out, quiet. "I'm so relieved to finally meet someone who's got the good sense to ignore all that silly, silly curse business." Sophie said. Lloyd looked at Sophie. "Say what?" Lloyd questioned, nervous. "Well, I'll certify the authenticity as you requested. It was very nice to meet you." Sophie said. She shook Lloyd's hand. Lloyed coughed again. "Nice to meet you." Lloyd said. He kept couching as Sophie wiped her hand on her black dress. "Thank you. Um... so, uh, goodbye then. And, well, I-I recommend you - you see a doctor about that cough. It does seem to be going to your chest." Sophie said. "It's just allergies." Lloyd said. Sophie left and Lloyd looked up the mummy curse. "Okay, he's just checked all the places the sarcophagus was stored before it hit the museum." Hardison informed Nate, who was looking at the plan on the board. "Okay. What's he found?" Nate asked, looking at the hacker, sitting down. Kaira and Eliot leaned in to look at the screen.</p><p>Hardison pulled up the sites. "Oh. Well, looky here. Dr. Ernst Volk, University of Berlin - dead. Dr. Schliemann, London Museum - dead. Oh, and also the three guys that actually discovered the tomb. Eliot, what does that say?" Hardison explained. "It says dead." Eliot said. "D-E-D- dead, baby." Hardison said. "D-E-A-D." Eliot, Kaira, and Nate corrected him. "I-I know how to - I was throwing a little style on it, just a little bit. A little style. I know how to spell "Dead", damn it. I can steal a bank, I can spell 'dead'." Hardison said. He took a sip of his orange soda. "Knowledge does not equal common sense. I'm just saying." Kaira said, taking a swig of beer. Hardison looked at her like she was crazy. Nate and Eliot smiled. "Wrap it up now, Maggie. You're doing great." Sophie said. "There you are. Can you just sign these?" Maggie said. "Sure." Lloyd said. He coughed again. "Hey, uh, Maggie... you don't believe in curses, do you? You know, mummy's curses, unexplained deaths around sarcophagus's?" Lloyd questioned. He and Maggie started to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. "Don't be silly. Everyone knows it's a fungus." Maggie said, serious. "What?" Lloyd questioned, unsure. "Aspergillus Flavus - found on Egyptian artifacts. Gets in the eyes and nose, infection spreads, and the next thing you know - another death from the curse." Maggie explained, nonchalantly. They both laughed again. "So, uh, what are the symptoms?" Lloyd asked. "Congestion, memory loss, blurry vision." Maggie said. Lloyd had it moved to the restoration room. Nate and Hardison pushed it and Eliot and Kaira guided the sarcophagus. They left and went back to the mansion.</p><p>Kaira was helping Eliot with the thing he was building as Nate and Sophie came down the stairs. "That was a good idea. I just, um - just - give me a moment." Sophie said, looking at Eliot and Kaira. Nate left to the other room. She walked over to Eliot and Sophie, who looked up at her. "You need something?" Eliot asked, a part in his mouth. "I was just trying to make myself useful." Sophie said. Eliot took the part out of his mouth. "Yeah, well, last time you tried that, we had to blow up the office." Eliot said. "That's not fair." Sophie said. "I just just getting used to it." Eliot said. "What? Having an office?" Sophie asked. Eliot and Kaira looked at her. "Being part of a team." Eliot said. Kaira stood up and sighed. "You know, Sophie, I hadn't been on a team in two years before I met you guys. It was always me and Eliot. But the office? That was one of the only places where I felt safe. You decided to be selfish and got my safe space blown up." Kaira said, frustrated. Parker walked in. "Look, I didn't mean - you know, it wasn't supposed to go down like that." Sophie said. Parker sat down her big, black bag. "What's going on?" Parker asked. "Sophie here was just trying to apologize." Eliot said. "And she's doing a really shitty job of it." Kaira hissed. "No, I wasn't." Sophie said, defensive. Hardison came in with the painting of Old Nate. "She tried that with me earlier. She kind of sucks at it." Parker said. Sophie looked at the team, taken back. "A little bit." Eliot said. "Oh, did she give you the speech about how we're thieves and about how this is what thieves do, and if we were in her shoes, we'd have done the same thing?" Hardison said, not surprised. "No, I think she was getting to that part." Eliot said. He sat down his thing and stood up. "You apologized to him first, huh? Why are me and her last?" Eliot asked, pointing to Hardison. "I wasn't apologizing. I..." Sophie was saying defensively before Kaira cut her off. "That's the problem, Soph." Kaira said, softly. "I just wanted to see if... we... we were all okay with each other." Sophie said. "Okay. There it is." Eliot said. They turned to walk away. "I forgive you." Parker said. "Apology accepted." Hardison said. They got back to what they were doing. "No, I wasn't - unh-unh. You - I didn't..." Sophie said as Hardison and Parker were hanging up the picture of Old Nate. "Oh, no, no. Just - uh, edge it left a little bit. Uh... yeah. There." Sophie said. Kaira smiled. Kaira took Sophie aside.</p><p>"That wasn't so hard, was it, Soph?" Kaira asked her. "What do you mean?" Sophie questioned. "Was it so hard to apologize?" Kaira asked again. Sophie stayed silent. "I'm sorry I was a bitch before we split and I snapped at you earlier. I've always had problems with people and trust. And also anger come to think of it. Point is, I'm done being angry. Maybe I was a bit selfish in thinking that I was the only one who hurt because of that. I know you probably didn't look at yourself the same after that." Kaira said. "It's okay. I forgive you. And you're right." Sophie said. Kaira huffed and turned. "For the record, I would not have done the same thing if I was in your spot. If it was just me and Eliot doing this job back then, hell yeah I would've done the same thing. But back then, I was greedy. I was a bad person. We aren't those people anymore Soph. We help people. That's our job. This job was about helping Nathan. And I'm starting to think this job cost us more than we'll gain from it. But then again, this isn't about winning or losing. This is about helping people. So that's what I'm gonna do. And we need you with us. I mean, Nathan listens to you. You can coaks him off the edge. Me and Eliot can't do everything. So I'm willing to let bygones be bygones and start over if you are." Kaira said, turning to face Sophie. She started smiling. She opened her arms for a hug and Kaira hugged her. "Of course." Sophie said. They met up with the rest of the team the next day and got ready to pull this off.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira walked together, as they watched Sterling and his security do their rounds. "Pictures have been distributed. We're scanning every guest that comes into the museum." The security guy reported. "Eliot Spencer." Sterling said. "Eliot Spencer - wanted in five countries, including Myanmar, which is offering a half-million dollar bounty on his head." The security guy said. "Bringing Spencer to justice and getting paid for it? It's icing on the cake. What about his girlfriend, Kaira Newton?" Sterling said. "Wanted in seven countries, and Myanmar is offering the same bounty as her boyfriend." The security guy said. "A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde couple. We'll send them both to Myanmar." Sterling said. He went into the elevator as Kaira and Eliot continued walking. Nate went up to the entrance. Ian let him in, much to the disappointment of Sterling. Kaira watched as Sterling took the bait with the mummy. Kaira saw the glass container fill with gas. Then all the team's cellphones rang, giving them the time to complete their jobs. Kaira saw the crowd freaking out and Sterling's security tried their best to control everyone. Then the crowd started pulling David statues out of their bags. Sterling corralled them outside. Then Hardison locked him outside as Nate triggered the roof alarm, sliding down the rope. Nate landed kinda hard. Nate smiled at Kaira, Eliot, Parker, and Sophie as the rope fell. Soon the metal plating that Sterling installed activated, locking Nate and the crew in the darkened room. "Let's go to work." Nate ordered. They got started on the plan. They loaded up the paintings in the restoration room and Nate and Kaira leaned on the Davids case. Nate looked at Kaira. "You ready for this?" Nate asked her. "I've waited eight years for this." Kaira said. Nate nodded. Then Ian opened the door to the exhibit.</p><p>The room was dark. The only thing that could be seen was Nate, Kaira, and the Davids. "Two Davids. Thank god." Ian said, chuckling. "Got you Nate. Kaira." Sterling said. "Yes, that was the whole point." Nate said. "Power's back up in about 15 seconds." One of Sterlings security reported. "What does that mean?" Sterling questioned. "You know - all that chasing me around. "Don't let Nate Ford near the Two Davids." "How is Nate Ford gonna get the Two Davids?" I wasn't the mastermind on this one, Sterling. I'm the bait." Nate said. "Three, two, one." Kaira counted down. Just then the lights came back on, revealing that every painting that was on the walls was gone. "What was your role, Kaira?" Sterling asked. "You'll see soon enough, you British bastard." Kaira hissed. "No! T-the room was locked!" Ian exclaimed, panicking over the loss of the paintings. "Sometimes the classics really are the best." Nate quipped. "They were masterpieces! They're worth-" Lloyd was saying before Maggie cut him off. "150 million dollars. The Vermeer, Caravaggio, two Van Eycks - at least." Maggie said, revealing her role in this. Lloyd got on his phone. "We need to call the police." Lloyd said. "Yeah, you should." Kaira quipped. "No, not the police." Ian said. "What do you mean?" Lloyd questioned. "No, I'm responsible! All the paintings in this room - they were my responsibility. No, they were all loaned to me..." Ian was saying, upset before having his "oh shit" moment. "Oh, well done." Sterling complimented. "Every single masterpiece in this room is insured by I.Y.S. That's a 150 million dollar payout. Now, what do you think your board of directors are gonna do when they realized you've lost the company 150 million dollars?" Nate said, taunting Ian. Ian then grabbed the gun from one of the nearby security guards. He pointed it at Nate and Kaira, who remained calm. Though it was obvious Kaira was pissed off. "Where are they?" Ian asked. The crowd in front of them was freaking out. "Clear the room." Sterling ordered. "Where are they?" Ian repeated. "Clear the room!" Sterling ordered. He got everyone out of the room. "Are you here to kill me, Ian?" Nate asked, staying calm.</p><p>Ian cocked the gun. Nate and Kaira looked at Sterling. "Here's how it's gonna go, Sterling." Nate said. "I'm all ears." Sterling said. "No, you talk to me, not to them. You talk to me." Ian said, angry. "Every single painting will be returned to I.Y.S the moment Ian Blackpoole is stripped of his position and all his assets in the company." Kaira said, still calm. "Also, his policy of denying every claim - that ends." Nate said. "Extortion." Sterling said. "I prefer to call it oversight." Nate said. Kaira grabbed the recorder that was behind them and played it. "Last time I saw you, you were selling me something." Ian said in the recording. "I got out of sales." Nate said in the recording. "So, what are you in now?" Ian asked in the recording. "Theft. Yeah, I'm going to rob the Two Davids exhibit on opening day. Well, aren't you gonna call the police?" Nate said in the recording. "Of course not." Ian said in the recording. Kaira stopped the recorder and tossed it to Sterling, who caught it. Ian still had the gun on them. "What do you think the owners of these paintings are gonna do when they find out you knew there was gonna be a theft at the gallery but did nothing?" Kaira asked Ian, staring him down. "They're gonna sue the hell out of him, aren't they?" Nate said. "But if the company, I-in good faith... returns their paintings?" Sterling questioned, weighing his options. "They might not fire you if you give them Blackpoole." Nate said. Sterling started chuckling at the idea. Ian pointed the gun at Sterling once he realized what was happening. "No. Sterling, you work for me. I.Y.S is my company." Ian said, upset still. He pointed the gun back at Nate and Kaira. "Can't let personal feelings affect policy. You have a responsibility to shareholders. No exceptions." Nate said, showing his calm anger. Ian lowered the gun and Nate grabbed it and handed it to Kaira. She put it in her pants.</p><p>Nate walked up to Ian. "I have lost my only son. Do you really think you scare me?" Nate said, a calm anger to his voice. "You really think you could've gotten away with killing me, Ian? I got a boyfriend who would gladly kill you and they'd never find your body, a brother who will hack whatever he needs to ruin you, a sister who will steal everything you own, and a mother that would steal your security, and a father who would plan it all." Kaira said, a calm anger to her voice. She drew the gun and pointed it at Ian. Ian was scared shitless. "You see, Ian, there are two types of people in this world who are dangerous. The ones who have nothing to lose who will die getting justice, and the ones with everything to lose who will fight to protect the ones they love. Nathan lost everything because of you. I lost everything because of you." Kaira said. Ian was panicking. "What are you talking about? What do you have against me?" Ian asked, shaking. "Oh, you stupid son of a bitch. You ruined a good person's life. You killed his son, ruined his marriage, ruined his job, ruined his life. Me? Eight years ago, a couple went to you, asking to pay for the chemo treatment for their young daughter, citing the bullshit excuse that the treatment wasn't guaranteed to work. Those were my parents. My sister, Kasey Newton, was six years old when she died because of you. I was 17. A year later, my parents died because they couldn't pay the medical bills and the funeral costs. So I really have no reason not to kill you right now." Kaira said, angry. She took a breath and put the gun away. "But I won't. Because humiliating you is so much more satisfying. And the look on your face. You had no control. You were powerless. That's how me and Nathan felt as we watched our lives go to shit. See, now I have everything to lose because of Nathan. I have a family. So in a way, I gotta thank you, Ian. Because if you hadn't turned my life to shit, then I wouldn't have met my boyfriend, wouldn't have become a thief, and I wouldn't have met my crew." Kaira said, getting up to Ian's face, speaking quietly. Kaira had an angry and pissed off face. Ian was so scared. He turned to face Maggie. "Maggie!" Ian called to her. He started walking over to her and Kaira, Nate, and Sterling moved to the archway.</p><p>Kaira and Nate looked at each other, knowing what would happen next. "Will - you understand-" Ian was saying. Maggie clocked him in the face, going down, hard. Nate looked impressed. "Oh, should've warned you, Ian. Maggie knows you ruined her life. What's that old saying?" Kaira turned to Nathan. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Nate answered. "Especially a mother who lost her son." Kaira finished. Maggie looked at the trio at the archway, then back at Ian. "Screw therapy. That felt really good." Maggie said. "Good form with the punch, Maggie." Kaira said to Maggie ad she was leaving. "Thanks." Maggie smiled, leaving. "So, you know your entire plan depended on me being a self-serving, utter bastard." Sterling realized. "Hmm. Yeah, that's a stretch." Nate said. "Wasn't that hard. You are a bastard, Sterling." Kaira said, handing the gun to Sterling. Nate and Kaira started walking. "I'll call you when it's done." Sterling said. "You do that." Nate said. Ian got up as Nate and Kaira walked beside him. Kaira clocked him and Ian went down. Kaira chuckled, holding her hand. "Damn. Maggie was right. That does feel good." Kaira said, walking with Nathan out the door. Kaira went down with the team in the room they used to store the paintings. The team hugged Kaira as she entered the room. She started tearing up. "Why didn't you tell us about what happened to your sister?" Hardison questioned, holding her shoulders like a big brother would. "Because I didn't want pity from anyone." Kaira said. "Hey, sweetheart, why would we pity you? I mean, all this time you've been itching to go after Blackpoole. We would've helped you." Eliot said, hugging Kaira. "I know, babe. I'm sorry. I should've said something sooner." Kaira said, wiping her eyes. Sophie hugged her next. "You have every right to be angry at me for blowing our chance earlier because I was selfish." Sophie said, tearing up some. "I'm not angry anymore, Sophie. I mean, I was selfish in thinking Blackpoole only hurt me and Nathan. And I learned a long time ago that pent up anger will only make your life hell." Kaira said, calming down some. Parker hugged Kaira next. Surprisingly, Parker let down some tears. "I'm sorry." Parker said. "It's okay." Kaira said. Kaira composed herself as Nathan came down the ladder they had placed with Maggie.</p><p>"Before we put the artwork away, it's only fair I tell you the full story of what happened." Kaira said. Maggie went up to Kaira. "It's okay. You don't owe anyone an explanation." Maggie said. "No. I do." Kaira said, composing herself. "As I told Ian, eight years ago, my sister died because Ian refused to pay for the chemo treatment that would have treated her lung cancer. A year later, I was at school and I got called down to the main office. There were two police officers in the office waiting for me. They told me that my parents died. It wasn't until a few days after that I learned what happened." Kaira explained, trying to stay calm. Eliot went up to her. "What happened?" Eliot asked. "My dad got high and drunk. Shot my mom and then killed himself. See, we were broke from medical bills and the funeral costs. My dad and mom spent what we had on drugs and alcohol. My mom got clean, but my dad didn't. He had come home that night, pissed off at my mom. And that's my story." Kaira finished explaining. The team hugged her and gave her their sympathy, which Kaira accepted. She composed herself and got to work. They got the artwork in place and exited through the restoration room. Nate pushed the sarcophagus out of the way. "Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison will replace the floor panel, seal the hole - no one will ever know what happened." Nate said laying out the final plan. "We'll move all the artwork into the loading dock, make it look like someone from the outside dropped it off." Sophie said. Eliot shut the door. They did just that. Kaira and Eliot sealed the hole and replaced the floor panel, and Sophie, Nate, Parker, and Maggie moved the artwork to the loading met back up later that evening at an airstrip. They stood in a circle. "Thank you... all of you. You surprised me." Nate said. Kaira was tearing up a bit. She hugged Eliot. "We had a good run." Eliot said. "It's a good time to move on." Hardison said. "I'm going somewhere... else." Parker said. "A fresh start." Sophie said. Kaira sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Thank you all for showing me what real family looks like." Kaira smiled through the tears. "We made a difference. Remember that." Nate said. It was silent for a moment. "Where you going?" Hardison asked Parker. Parker laughed a bit. "Let's see how hard you look." Parker said. Kaira let go of Eliot and hugged Nate. "Thank you for making me a better person, Nathan." Kaira whispered. "Thank you for keeping me in line." Nate said. Kaira kissed his cheek in gratitude. She walked back to Eliot. He held her hand. They stood for a moment. They turned and started walking. Kaira and Eliot took a few steps and stopped. Kaira teared up more and put her arm around Eliot. For that split second, she wanted to turn back and rejoin her family. But she knew they had to separate. Little did Kaira know, the rest of her team did the exact same thing. But they kept going. What lied ahead of Kaira and Eliot, she hadn't a clue. But that was okay. Se had her boyfriend. That's all she needed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Beantown Bailout Job (2x1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Six months after saying a tearful goodbye, the team meets up again with the help of Sophie. After discovering that they are all itching to get back to helping people, they find a job Nate had uncovered involving the mob and a banker and man caught in the crossfire of a bailout being rigged. When they find the information they had was wrong, the team is forced to improvised on the job.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading this far! As you can see, this is the start of season 2 of Leverage!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Six months. Six months since Kaira said a teary goodbye to her team. Six months, no phone calls, no emails, no contact. Kaira was going stir crazy. Her and Eliot needed something else to do. So they were in Boston for a bit. Kaira and Eliot got a message from Sophie saying to meet her at the theater. Eliot and Kaira decided to go for the Hell of it. They were bored, for once in their lives. They needed something to do. Kaira and Eliot got dressed and ready a date night. Kaira put on Eliot's favorite lipstick, and Eliot put on a leather jacket. Eliot and Kaira were just chatting after getting their tickets. Kaira heard a familiar female voice and smiled. She turned around. She saw Parker, Hardison, and Nate. They walked to the middle, forming a circle. "Eliot? Kaira?" Nate said. "Nate?" Parker said. "Parker?" Hardison said. "Hardison." Eliot said. It was an awkward moment. "How have you all been?" Kaira asked, smiling. "Good. Good. Great. You?" Nate asked Eliot and Kaira. "Fantastic." Eliot said. "Pretty good." Kaira said. "Six months of traveling. Did a couple of big jobs." Eliot said. "Yeah. Me, too. Great off time. Well, I bought an oxygen tank. Cool, nice." Hardison said. "Yeah, super. I've been really super, too." Parker said. "Yeah, she didn't tell me that you guys would-" Nate said. Just then Sophie went up to them in costume. "Oh, you all made it." Sophie said, happy to see her crew again. Kaira smiled and hugged Sophie. "Good to see you." Kaira smiled. "I didn't know you could sing." Hardison said. "You know. Not as well as I act, but, yeah." Sophie said. Sophie went to hug Nate, but Nate kept her off. "Uh, I don't want to wrinkle your-" Nate said. Sophie chuckled and removed the rollers from her hair. "We're gonna meet up afterwards." Sophie said. Kaira agreed, causing the rest to agree. Sophie left, doing some warm-ups. Kaira looked at the gang who was still awkward. "Guys, we haven't seen each other in six months. Let's not make this awkward okay? We'll get some drinks after the show. I know I'll need one." Kaira said. The team agreed. This was gonna be a long night. The team sat down and watched Sophie perform. Needless to say, it was indeed a long night. Sophie didn't do that well at all. They met up at a bar and got drinks.</p><p>Sophie laid her head on the table and groaned. Nate, Eliot, and Kaira then walked in. Nate actually told them some good news. "You quit drinking?" Eliot questioned, going to sit down. "Yep." Nate said. They sat down. Eliot and Kaira had a draft beer and Nate had coffee. "You quit drinking?" Kaira questioned Nate. "Sure did." Nate repeated. Kaira hugged him. "I'm proud of you, Nathan!" Kaira exclaimed. She let go, leaving a smiling Nate. "How do you know about this place, then?" Eliot asked Nate. "I rent a condo upstairs." Nate said. Kaira stumbled a bit. "You rented a condo above a bar?" Kaira questioned. "That's right." Nate said. "Well, that's very... catholic." Eliot said. Nate smiled a bit at the couple. "The costumes were really great." Parker said, trying to cheer up Sophie. "No. No, no, no. Stop it. There is nothing you can say that's gonna make me feel better." Sophie said, sad. "Unh-unh. I know what could make you feel better. We should steal something." Parker said. Nate sat his cup down after taking a drink. "Mmm. No, no." Nate declined. "Yes!" Sophie said, feeling better. "No." Nate objected. "We could do it together." Kaira suggested. "I like this. Get right back up on the bike." Eliot said. Kaira moved to sit on Eliot's lap. He placed his hands protectively on Kaira's waist. "Bike of crime." Parker said. "Didn't you tell me how great your new lives were?" Nate questioned. Eliot and Kaira took a sip of beer. "Yeah, well, I stole the Hope Diamond." Parker said. "What?" Nate questioned. "And then I put it back. Yeah, because I was bored. Didn't care." Parker said. "I spent three days hacking the White House e-mail - no buzz." Hardison said. "See?" Sophie pointed out. "But we are doing some pretty hinky stuff in Pakistan. Hinky." Hardison said. "Look, I'm miserable. They're miserable. Okay, W-what have you lovebirds been doing the last six months?" Sophie said, looking at Kaira and Eliot. Eliot and Kaira looked at each other awkwardly. "We were in Pakistan." Eliot said. The team looked at them weird. "You see what you did? You took the world's best criminals - hitter, hacker, grifter, thief, jack of trades." Hardison pointed to each team member and they raised their hands when their job was said. "You took us, and you broke us." Hardison finished. "No, no. I - what I did - I taught you how to help people. That's - that's all." Nate said. "Exactly." Kaira said. "This is the problem, though, with being the good guy. It - it gets under your skin." Eliot said. "It becomes this rush. Kinda like taking crack." Kaira said. "Look, Nate. you have to have some poor little loss soul somewhere who needs a little extra legal aid." Sophie said. "Look, we all - we all agreed that we would just move on." Nate said. "Yeah. But... we're... we're thieves." Sophie said. "Not me." Nate said. Kaira groaned a bit. "Look, it was great. It was fun. It was wonderful while it lasted, but, you know, I was drunk most of the time, to be honest with you. A little crazy-" Nate was saying before Eliot cut him off. "Yeah, but you were good." Eliot said. "You were the best." Parker said. "We were the best." Hardison said. "Listen, really, I owe all of you. And I'm very proud of what we did. I-I really am. But... I got my life back, and I intend to keep it that way. And I am not a thief." Nate said. He got up out of his seat. "It was great to see all of you." Nate said, leaving. "You didn't even get a chance to tell him." Parker said. "I know." Sophie said, taking a sip of her drink. "Tell him what?" Eliot questioned. "Nothing." Sophie said, taking another sip. They sat down at the bar for a bit before leaving.</p><p>They met back up in the morning, where Sophie informed them of the night's events. Apparently, someone tried to kill Nate. Sophie helped fight the guy off, and accidentally knocked Nate out with a cookie sheet. Kaira went to check on him as Eliot, Hardison, and Parker did some digging on a case that Nate found. Apparently, Nate saved a banker named Matt Kerrigan and his daughter Zoe from a car crash. Parker was eating cereal in a nun outfit as Kaira sat at the foot of the bed. Nate woke up. Nate gasped when he realized Parker and Kaira were there. "Calm down, Nathan. It's just us." Kaira calmed Nate down. Sophie came down the spiral staircase, wearing a blue striped button-up shirt as Hardison was at the laptop, wearing a priest outfit minus the white-collar. "That's my shirt." Nate realized. Kaira chuckled a bit. "Yeah. Oh, yeah. I stayed the night to make sure you were okay." Sophie said. Kaira walked to the table Eliot and Hardison were at. "You what?" Nate questioned. "But don't worry. I didn't, you know, look under your bed. I know that's where guys keep weird, kinky stuff." Sophie said. Nate sat up as Parker opened the cabinets. "There's nothing under my bed." Nate said. "This is all coffee." Parker said. Nate laid on the back of the couch. "Get out of there! What are you guys doing? Come on, get out of here." Nate got off the couch and walked up to the table. "Get all this stuff out of here. You're planning something. I know it. Come on. Get out of my house. Out." Nate ordered. "Like hell, we are, Nathan. Someone tried to kill you last night. We're not leaving until we find out who and why." Kaira said, kinda amused. "What do you want us to do, man. You want us to just blow town and let you figure it out?" Eliot said. "Yes, actually. That's exactly what I want you to do." Nate said. "We found the phone number of the hospital in your pocket, and we know what you - what you did. We know you saved that guy's life and that little girl. And we're all really proud of you." Sophie said. Eliot clapped his hands a couple of times.</p><p>"Look, nobody else is gonna help that guy and his little girl. Okay, that's what we do. We help people. By the way, I compared Sophie's description of your attacker to the accident footage from the security camera." Hardison said. He typed some and showed that it was a match. "Do you realize, on average, people are caught on security cameras 13 times a day? ATM cameras, traffic cameras. It's crazy, man, but we can track him. We can. Well, I - I lost him in this." Hardison said, showing the footage of Nate's attacker running to a dumpster and dumping a briefcase. "Yeah, well, I found this empty briefcase belonging to a Matt Kerrigan at that intersection." Eliot said, opening up the briefcase. "It's Boston Commonwealth Bank, right?" Hardison questioned. "No, First Independent Boston. That's where Kerrigan works. Come on." Nate said, drinking coffee. Kaira smiled a bit, amused. Hardison pulled up more security footage from the bank. "Who's that guy?" Eliot asked. "You don't know, do you? That's Kerrigan's boss, that guy. Leary." Nate said. The team looked at Nate, amused. "Whatever." Nate brushed them off. "All right, who's the other guy?" Eliot asked. "It's not clear enough for facial recognition." Hardison said. "Yeah, well these guys went down to the safety deposit boxes." Kaira informed Nate. "Which is the only room in every bank, with absolutely no cameras." Parker said, leaving. "Which means we up, baby. They tried to kill Kerrigan for what was in the briefcase. We're gonna steal it back." Hardison said, getting ready and leaving with Parker. Eliot and Kaira chuckled a bit. This was what Kaira was missing. "She was dressed that way cause she's doing a con." Eliot said, chuckling a bit. "What, you thought she was dressed like a nun for no reason?" Nate questioned. Kaira looked at Nate. "It's Parker." Kaira pointed out. "Oh, fair enough." Nate said. "Okay, I want you out of my house. Out." Nate ordered. "I'm - I'm getting cleaned up. I'm going upstairs. I want all this stuff out of here. I want you guys out of here. I'm not a part of this." Nate warned. Kaira chuckled a bit. "Okay. " Sophie said. She was putting on her boots. "Not a part of this. This is - this is you guys." Nate said. "We got it." Sophie said. "If you want to do this thing, you're on your own." Nate said, walking closer to the steps. "Fine." Eliot said. Kaira moved in front of Eliot and leaned on his body. Eliot put a hand around Kaira's waist. "Understood?" Nate questioned. "Yes, Nathan." Kaira said, amused. "So, you going?" Sophie asked Eliot and Kaira. "I'm not going anywhere. The man has 700 sports channels." Eliot said. "No way in hell." Kaira said. Sophie leaned in to Kaira and Eliot. "You want to see what he's got underneath his bed?" Sophie asked. "No, I do not." Eliot said. "Hell no." Kaira said. "Icky." Sophie said. She shook her head yes. Eliot, Kaira, and Sophie waited until Hardison and Parker came back with the information.</p><p>He told Eliot and Kaira to go to an address and look through the things in a few warehouses. Eliot's phone rang. He looked at it. "It's Hardison." Eliot said. He answered the phone. "What?" Eliot answered. "Yeah, Hardison. This is the third place we looked. It's all the same." Eliot said. Kaira hit his shoulder after spotting three guys. "Cowboy, we got company." Kaira said. The guy up front was the one who attacked Nate and had a baseball bat. "What do you mean, mob?" Eliot questioned. "Hey!" The leader of the trio yelled. "Oh, that mob." Eliot said. He hung up the phone. They went from behind the boxes. "Hey, that's private property." The lead goon yelled. "Yeah. Sorry." Kaira said. The lead goon kept pushing Eliot in the chest with the baseball bat. "Yeah, I'm gonna teach you how to respect private property." He said. "I wouldn't do that. See, my boyfriend here has a bit of a temper." Kaira said. Eliot then grabbed the bat and punched Goon #1 in the stomach, causing him to bend over. "What did she tell you?" Eliot growled. He threw the guy behind him as Eliot and Kaira got ready to fight the goons. Goon #2 picked up a crowbar and Goon #3 picked up a wood beam. Goon #1 was on his knees and Eliot went back and hit him in the nose. He started yelling about his nose. Eliot picked up the bat. Eliot spun the bat in the air. The guys stared at each other as Eliot motioned for them to take him on. "Come on." Eliot growled. Kaira went up by Eliot. She cocked her head. Goon #2 went after Eliot, and Goon #3 went after Kaira. Kaira easily grabbed the board and kicked the guy in the knee. She broke the board on her knee and used it to hit the goon over the face with it. She went back and knocked Goon #1 down. Eliot had used the baseball bat to block the crowbar and knocked down Goon #3 by hitting his knees with his leg. Pretty soon, all the goons were down. "Uh, sorry." Eliot said, grabbing Kaira's hand as he pulled her back to the boxes. They grabbed what they felt was important and left. They arrived back.</p><p>Eliot was laying the stuff out on the coffee table when Nate opened his fridge. "Seriously?!" Nate exclaimed. In his fridge was Hardisons favorite orange soda. Nate turned around and saw the dishes. "You know, guys, uh, there is a dishwasher." Nate called out. "Sorry, Nathan! I'll do the dishes after we look at this stuff." Kaira said. "You're out of ice." Eliot told Nate. "This is all the stuff me and Kaira found at the warehouse in the boxes." Eliot said. In the boxes were various clothes and memorabilia. Hardison grabbed the calendar. "Check it out - a 1981 calendar of Hall and Oats. The first two months are all hall and no oats. Cold, man." Hardison said. Parker then put on a pretty crappy looking jacket. "Judging by this fringing and... what? ... those shoulder pads." Sophie said, getting distracted by the jacket Parker put the jacket on. Parker made robotic movements with her arms and body. "This stuff hasn't left the warehouse since the 80's." Kaira observed. "I feel like a robot." Parker said in a robotic voice. "Wait, so if these are supposed to be just fake businesses, how come their financials are so squeaky clean?" Sophie questioned. "Because they're fake businesses." Nate blurted out, causing the team to look at him. He was sitting on the table in the kitchen. "I mean, come on, it's right there. I mean, I'm just saying." Nate said. He took a sip of coffee. The team looked at each other. "What? Sophie, how do you catch mob guys?" Nate asked. "Uh, two glasses of Chianti and a story about my grandma in Sicily." Sophie said. "How does the government catch mob guys?" Nate asked. "Taxes." The team said. "That's how they got Capone and all the mob guys." Kaira pointed out. "So, 30 years ago, the O'Hares got very smart. You see, they set up all these shell companies. Fake sales, fake receipts. They launder all their dirty money through them." Nate explained. "Everybody in the family gets a "salary". Yeah, they pay withholding, payroll taxes, pension. It's all old-school." Hardison said. "So they're dirty on the inside." Kaira realized. "Well, yeah. I mean, if you have a body in the trunk of your car, you're gonna drive under the speed limit, aren't you?" Nate said.</p><p>Kaira pursed her lips together. "You know, when you're sober, your metaphors get creepier." Parker pointed out. "But, uh, wait, wait, that still doesn't explain the last six months of running up bad loans." Hardison realized. "All from a bank that's about to close." Sophie said. "Close? No, not close. Get bailed out. Look, we've got a banker in the pocket of the mob. The mob takes out bad loans, cleans out the bank, knowing three days from now, the government's gonna come along and then, you know, bail the bank out." Nate said, walking to the board. Eliot sat on the couch with the team and Kaira sat on his lap. "I mean..." Nate chuckled. "It's perfect. You know, I don't even think it's illegal. It's... I mean, if we were gonna do this - this job." Nate said. "Just this one job." Sophie said. Parker held up her index finger. "Yeah, just this one." Nate said. "Yeah." Kaira said. "I mean, the con that you'd want to do -" Nate said. "Hypothetically." Hardison said. "Hypothetically, you know, is, uh, the Turnabout, of course." Nate said. "Oh, that is a good one." Sophie said. "You know, it takes... five people to do the turnabout." Eliot said. "That's true." Sophie said. "There are five of you." Nate said. "Yeah, but we need our mastermind to pull this off." Kaira said, acting innocent. "What? Kaira can do it." Nate said. "Nathan, I'm overwatch. My job is making sure everyone's safe during the con." Kaira said. Nate gave in and started thinking. "We've got to scare the Banker into turning against the mob. All right. All right, we'll do this job. Just this one." Nate said. "If you really want." Hardison said. "If you insist. We're on board." Sophie said over Hardison. "Hardison, you and Parker, you're gonna be on the badge. Eliot and Kaira, sheepdogs. Sophie-" Nate assigned the rolls. "Ice Queen." Sophie said. "And I'm the Bagman. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am gonna go call a professional killer who tried to murder me, and arrange to meet him in an isolated location. Well-played." Nate said, leaving. "See that? He did miss us." Sophie said, excited, rubbing Eliot's arm. They got up and left.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira went to the bank two days later ad Hardison and Parker talked with Leary. Eliot and Kaira stopped in front of him and stared at him, threateningly. Then they walked away to the side of the bank. Eliot went to one of the pillars and started putting a charge on the pilar. Kaira watched as Eliot put the charges on. Hardison and Parker soon walked to the sidewalk. Eliot and Kaira walked over. "Hey, this detonator - if we're around the corner, is it still gonna be in range?" Eliot asked. "Should be. I haven't worked out all the kinks yet. Sometimes the things just go off." Hardison said. Eliot stopped them. "Whoa, whoa, wait. Hey. I thought you said this thing was safe." Eliot growled. "Mostly. Mostly safe. I was very specific. Uh, sometimes the frequencies get messed up." Hardison explained. Eliot freaked a little and started playing with the charges in his pockets. "What frequencies, man? Huh? I got these things in my pants." Eliot said, not happy. Kaira tried to keep a straight face. "Like, you know, a garage-door opener, a car alarm." Hardison said. Just then a car alarm chirped, causing Eliot to panic a bit. Eliot walked away. "What are the odds that Eliot's crotch actually explodes?" Parker asked. Eliot looked back, still fiddling with the charges. "Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot exclaimed. "You're gonna get your ass whopped by Eliot." Kaira said, walking with Eliot. Eliot and Kaira went to the car and waited until Leary got out of the bank. Eliot hit the button as gunshot sounds could be heard and people screaming. Leary was freaking out. Kaira and Eliot were laughing. They drove off. Nate and Sophie had made the deal with O'Hare the day before. They met back up after the Leary meeting.</p><p>They were in a circle as Hardison opened a case. "New earbuds. Better range, better fit. All you have to do is whisper, and we'll hear it." Hardison said, handing them all the new earbuds. Kaira put hers in. "Okay, now, if this thing works, our friend Mr. Leary he goes to the state police, he runs, he spills his guts. Eliot, Kaira, make sure he gets there." Nate ordered. "We're on it." Eliot said as they left. "Okay. And O'Hare's money for the frame-up?" Nate questioned. "And this money came from..." Nate questioned. "Oh, yeah." Parker said. "Perfect. Okay, let's reel them in." Nate said. Nate called up O'Hare and Hardison called Leary. Eliot and Kaira left and went to the warehouse. Kaira brought along Boston State Trooper badges to be safe. Nate gave the money to O'Hare. "Eliot, Kaira is Leary with the cops? We don't have a lot of room for error." Nate asked. Eliot and Kaira hid behind some wood. "There's a problem." Eliot reported. "Leary is at the waterfront. Dumped his car and he's heading towards you." Kaira reported. "He was supposed to go to the cops." Nate said. "Well, then, I don't know what he's doing." Eliot said. They went to follow him. Eliot and Kaira stayed just outside. "Okay, guys, it's not O'Hare." Nate reported. "What?" Sophie questioned. "O'Hare is not the boss, is what I'm saying." Nate said. "No. This whole con was built around O'Hare." Sophie said. "Ooh, they're probably gonna shoot Nate in the face." Parker said. "Parker, I can hear you." Nate reminded Parker. "Ooh. Uh, sorry. Forgot about the -" Parker said. "T-this is not good." Sophie said. "All right. Well, listen. We're gonna have to make this one up as we go." Nate said. Kaira and Eliot made their way in the warehouse.</p><p>Leary was arguing with O'Hare about making deals. Leary also admitted he was in charge. As Eliot and Kaira were watching the exchange, three guys come back and grabbed them. Kaira tried to fight as they went to the meeting area. "Alright! Alright!" Eliot said. The goons grabbed two chairs and sat Kaira and Eliot down in them. "You better not lay a hand on him." Kaira said. She got slapped. "Hey! Don't touch her!" Eliot exclaimed. He also got slapped. "Hey. Hey, I know these guys. They were there when the cops questioned me." Leary said. "Them?" Nate questioned, pointing to the couple. "Yeah." Leary said. Nate walked up to Eliot and Kaira. "You better know what you're doing." Eliot whispered. Nate looked at Eliot. He then patted down Kaira and pulled State Trooper badges off them. "Hey, they've got state trooper badges." Nate said, holding it up. He handed them to Leary. "Son of a... that's it. Kill them." Leary ordered O'Hare. "Whoa." Eliot said. Kaira got wide-eyed and panicked. "Don't you dare." Kaira warned. O'Hare pulled out his gun and then handed it to Leary. "You want them dead, you kill them. I fixed Kerrigan's brakes. I'm not killing a couple of cops." O'Hare said. "You screwed up Kerrigan." Leary told O'Hare. "Yeah, no. He's right. You're right. He's - well, we're -" Nate was saying before they heard a gunshot. Kaira looked over to see Eliot going limp. "No!" Kaira screamed. Eliot looked over to Kaira and gave a slight smile before three more shots were fired at Eliot, knocking him out of his seat. Kaira looked to see Sophie as Annie. "You bitch!" Kaira screamed before another shot was heard. Kaira then heard a couple more shots before getting knocked out of her chair. Kaira kept silent and still along with Eliot.</p><p>"Have they got a wire?" Sophie asked as Annie. "Well, come on, Ford. Get with it! Check them for a wire!" Sophie ordered. "Yes, uh, right on it. Uh..." Nate said before patting Kaira down. "This isn't how we do it in Boston." O'Hare said. "Really? It's exactly how we do it in London. Except we usually use a razer blade." Sophie said. "No wires." Nate reported. Kaira felt Nate pat her down and then heard the phone buttons going. "But he has a cellphone, though." Nate said. "Give it to me." Leary ordered. "Ah, nothing on speed dial." Leary said. "Hit redial. See who he called." Sophie suggested. "Say that's good." Leary said. "Leary, right? Annie Kroy. Nice little number with the banks there. It's a shame the rest of your operation's a bit more balls-up." Sophie said. Just then another phone rang. It was O'Hare's. "O'Hare? Why was a cop's last phone call to you?" Leary asked. "This is - this - this - this - this is a setup." O'Hare argued. "How is it a set up? She shot the cops." Leary argued. "Yeah, and he's the one who dialed the phone." Sophie said. "You didn't want us to shot them, either, did you? Why? Did you know them?" Leary questioned O'Hare. "It wasn't like that! Come on! Y-you know I was in this thing right from the beginning. W-Why would be involved?" O'Hare was arguing. Leary told his guys to go. A few seconds later, Hardison and Parker were heard. "Get in if you want to live." Hardison said. A moment later, O'Hare was nervous. "What are you doing? T-they're gonna be right behind us." O'Hare said, nervous. "Then you best talk fast. State police." Hardison said. "What happened to our people?" Parker asked. "I didn't kill them. They did." O'Hare said. "Tactical's moving in now." Parker said. "So in about one minute your friends are gonna have SWAT teams, smoke bombs, helicopters, and lasers all up in there, which means you got about 30 seconds to cut a deal O'Hare. That is who you are, right? Brandon O'Hare?" Hardison said. "Oh, god. I'll give you Leary. All right? He organized the bank fraud, and he contracted the Kerrigan hit. I was an accessory after the fact." O'Hare said. "Eh, good enough." Hardison said. Hardison and Parker wrapped up with O'Hare. Leary was heard again. "Those were the state cops that questioned me." Leary said.</p><p>"Well, have they got any evidence?" Sophie asked. "No, no. Nothing real. Just O'Hare's word against mine." Leary explained. "And no documents?" Sophie questioned. "No. No, no. I-I have those. But Kerrigan saw them." Leary said. "And there's just one problem. You know, we're screwed if he wakes up." Nate said. "He won't. Kerrigan's the last loose end. I'll take care of him myself." Leary said. "Hey, hey, whoa. Wait. What about them?" Nate questioned. "Them? Hey, I never touched them. Your fingerprints are all over them. I'll clean up my mess, you clean up yours." Leary said. It was a second before Nate spoke. "So, how'd you do it?" Nate asked. Eliot and Kaira then stood up, groaning a bit. "Detonator... ketchup." Eliot said, showing the detonator and pulling out a ketchup packet for Nate to see. "Ah, the classics." Nate said, impressed. "Did I go too far with the acting?" Kaira questioned, looking at Sophie. "No. That was perfect, my favorite hitters. Oh, I love a good death scene!" Sophie said. They all left and met back up at the bar, where they had Matt and Zoe meet them. Kaira heard the Leary was arrested. Turns out, Parker and Hardison stole the money from the safe-deposit boxes, and put it in Matt's briefcase, which got switched with Leary's. Parker and Hardison hand-delivered O'Hare to Bonanno, who was the cop that Matt was talking to.</p><p>Matt and Zoe arrived. Nate handed him a check. He gasped. "I can't take this from you." Kerrigan said. "Well, you know, it's not from us." Nate said. "The I.R.S pays for a percentage for all the tax frauds reported. All those mob businesses, 30 years of back taxes. You found them." Sophie said. Kerrigan chuckled a bit. "Thank you. I can never thank you enough." Kerrigan said. He and Zoe were about to leave when Zoe came back and hugged Nate. "Thank you. There are wolves in the world. But sometimes they're the good guys, I guess." Zoe said, looking at the team. She put a necklace in Nate's hand and closed it. Nate held the necklace. "Still your last job?" Sophie asked. "Well, uh, maybe, um..." Nate turned around to face the crew. "Yeah?" Sophie questioned. "I mean, you know, until I find a job I like enough, you know, to stay out of the bars." Nate said. "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop." Hardison said. "And then I'm out. I'm done." Nate said. "Sure." Kaira smiled. "Yeah. Cause you're not a thief." Eliot said. Kaira followed Eliot, leaving. They went up as Hardison told them that they were using Nate's apartment as the new office.</p><p>They got to work. Kaira was helping Hardison by holding a flashlight. Nate didn't look hot coming in. "Whoa, whoa. W-what are you doing there?" Nate asked, surprised. "I'm running this CAT-5 cable to the-" Hardison was saying. "Oh, no, no, no, no. You don't understand. No, I don't want to have these monitors in my apartment." Nate said. Then Parker came in with the picture of Old Nate. "Coming through!" Parker called out. "No, these must go. What?" Nate said, turning around. "No! Parker, no! Not that paint - I don't ever want to see that painting." Nate exclaimed, getting upset. "Hi, I'm old Nate, and I live here too." Parker said, imitating Nate, tilting the painting side to side. "You can't just break in here and start hanging -" Nate said before Hardison put him off. Kaira tried not to laugh. "Oh, yeah, yeah - for repairs or renovation, your landlord has full access to your dwelling. It's in the lease." Hardison explained. "What are you doing reading my lease?" Nate questioned, confused. "Hardison may have bought the building." Kaira explained. She chuckled a bit. "You bought the... you're my landlord?" Nate questioned, staring at Hardison. "Yeah. Yeah." Hardison held out his fist for Nate to bump. He didn't. Just then a chainsaw could be heard. Nate kept yelling no as the wall beside the screens went down, revealing a dusty Eliot, having way too much fun holding the chainsaw. Eliot laughed weirdly. Kaira had her arm around Nate and Hardison came over. "You know, Nathan, did you really think you're gonna get rid of us that easily?" Kaira questioned. Eliot went over to hug Kaira after putting down the chainsaw. "Sorry, cowboy, but not when you're covered in dry wood dust." Kaira chuckled. Eliot chuckled a bit too. This was her new home. Kaira loved it. She and Eliot could rent a space right next to Nate. Kaira smiled at the new opportunity ahead of her. Leverage Consulting was back in business. Kaira couldn't be happier.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. The Tap Out Job (2x1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>New town, new office, and a new opportunity. With "Leverage Consulting and Associates" back in business, the team gets right to work. Their latest mark? A mixed martial arts promoter who fixed fights to benefit him and caused a fighter to go in a coma. With Eliot as the bait, they sucker the mark into a tv deal. But when the con is blown, Eliot must take the dive to save the day. How will Kaira and Eliot's relationship change after the job?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot were just moving some stuff in their new apartment above Old Roy's Tavern. Kaira was excited and happy. She was back in the game. Also, it was her and Eliot's one year anniversary in a few days. Kaira had bought Eliot a gift to celebrate. Little did Kaira know, Eliot also had a gift for her. That's when Kaira's phone rang. It was Nate. "Hey, Nathan." Kaira answered the phone. Eliot looked at her, setting down his box. "Hey, Kaira. How's the move?" Nate asked. "Oh, going well. Still got a couple of things to move yet, but we're getting there. What's going on?" Kaira said. "We got a job." Nate informed her. "Nice. What's the job?" Kaira asked. Eliot got excited. "Meet me in Nebraska. I'll text you the address." Nate said. "See you there." Kaira said. She hung up the phone. "Well?" Eliot questioned, placing his hands on Kaira's waist. "We got a job. Nathan wants us to meet in Nebraska." Kaira informed Eliot. Just then Kaira's phone rang. She picked it up and looked at the text message. "Nathan just sent me the address." Kaira said. "Alright. The only thing that's left to unpack is the dishes and the bedsheets." Eliot said. "Let's finish that and then we'll meet Nathan at the address." Kaira said. Eliot placed a kiss on Kaira's lips. "Do I tell you I love you?" Eliot asked, smiling at his girlfriend. "Every day, cowboy. It's implied." Kaira smiled. She placed her hand on Eliot's neck and pulled his face towards hers. She placed her lips on his. She let go and the couple finished unpacking. Kaira got snacks for her and Eliot for the 25-hour drive down. With very minimal stopping, they got to the hotel Nate had them meet at.</p><p>Hardison had already bought them a room. They unpacked and went to Hardison's room to meet up with the team. They all sat down on the couch in the room as Hardison went into this presentation on the monitors on the table in front of him. "That's Jed Rucker. He runs a homegrown mixed martial arts league here in Nebraska. They have a very strong wrestling tradition here, so the talent pool is pretty deep." Hardison said. "Wrestlers have a good base for a blended training approach. You know, they can go from that to Jujitsu, kickboxing, judo." Eliot said. "Rucker promotes fights." Parker realized. "And manages fighters, taking a cut every step of the way." Hardison continued. "Yeah, you know, plus he's not above fixing matches, as the Howorths found out. We've dealt with some lowlifes, but when I heard about this guy..." Nate said. Eliot was watching some footage of the fight in question. "That was a nice takedown. Good ground and pound. He's a little sloppy in a closed guard, but it's a solid armbar." Eliot complimented the kid in the video. "Yeah, you can tell he's a wrestler, but he's good. I mean it ain't the UFC, so." Kaira said. Sophie covered her eyes with her hands, not liking the footage. "Hardison, where did you get these?" Nate asked. "Online. They're viral videos. See, Rucker doesn't have a tv deal, it's pretty much a bare-bones operation." Hardison explained. "You call this a sport?" Sophie questioned. "Yeah, it's a sport. These are some of the best-conditioned athletes in the world. Are you kidding me?" Eliot stood up. "It's about precision, technique, skill." Eliot explained, moving behind the couch. "Like cockfighting." Sophie said, uncomfortable with the video. "It's not a cockfight. All right? Let me show you something, Hardison. Come here. Can I borrow you?" Eliot said. Parker was behind the couch as well. Eliot got her in position. Kaira loved that each team member was learning from each other. Kaira would watch Parker and Eliot train. They were like siblings. "All right. Square up. Remember what I showed you?" Eliot said.</p><p>Hardison faced Parker. Parker had her hands up. "Are you..." Hardison chuckled before squaring up. Kaira stood up and went beside Eliot. "There's three phases to an MMA fight. One, striking." Kaira said. Parker struck Hardison in the face. "Nice. Next is grappling - the takedown." Eliot said. Parker pulled Hardison to the ground. "Good. Third is Jujitsu." Kaira said. Parker started wrapping her body around Hardison's neck. "Okay, try to isolate a joint. Good Parker." Kaira said. "That's a textbook armbar. Put some pressure on there." Eliot said, leaning to help Parker. "Like this?" Parer questioned. "Yes. Or you can go for a choke hold." Kaira said. "She got to be choking me." Hardison said, trying to breathe. "Oh, yeah, the choke hold." Parker said. She moved her arms to get in the choke hold. "There you go. Lock that in. You don't have to hold the arm. See, that's a triangle choke. That's nasty." Eliot said. "Puts pressure on the corrated. And your opponent will submit by tap out." Kaira said, putting her hands together to show the tap out. Hardison started tapping. "Eliot, Kaira, I'm tapping! I'm tapping!" Hardison tried to get out. "Okay, Parker, let him go." Kaira said. "These fights are won by inches, I'm telling you." Eliot said. "All about leverage." Kaira finished. Hardison kept tapping. "Parker, you can let him go." Kaira reiterated. "It looks really painful." Sophie said. "It is painful." Hardison said. Parker was still choking him. "Parker, let go!" Kaira ordered. "No, tv deal, huh? Hardison, what are this guy's other interests? This Rucker guy." Nate asked. "Parker!" Kaira warned again. "Seriously, you ask me a question right now..." Hardison said, trying to breathe. "Parker! Off now!" Kaira warned again. "I'll take that. Um, yeah. Rotary club, golf membership." Sophie said. "Golf, huh?" Nate said. "Help me." Hardison whispered. Kaira went back to pull Parker off of Hardison. "Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, this guy's like a 1950's sitcom character. He plays a weekly game with the local businessmen. In fact, last year he won the club championship." Sophie said. Kaira was still trying to pull Parker off of Hardison. "Did he? Hmm." Nate said. "Let Hardison go, Parker!" Kaira ordered. "I guess it's uh... it's time to hit the links." Nate said.</p><p>They got a plan. Hardison got golf balls ready for Nate to play against Rucker for money for the next day once he recovered from Parker's chokehold. Nate had won the golf game, but Parker stole Rucker's wallet, so he couldn't pay the bet. Nate told him to pay him the next day. Later in the day, Nate, Eliot, and Kaira went to the gym and acted like Eliot was training. Nate met with Rucker, as Kaira watched Eliot train on a punching bag. Kaira clocked the security cameras in the gym. Kaira looked at her boyfriend. "You gonna be okay, Eliot?" Kaira asked. "Yeah. I'll be fine. This is what I do for living." Eliot smiled at her. Kaira continued to watch as Nate came over and talked to Eliot and Kaira, getting Rucker's attention. Eliot and Kaira soon walked out hand in hand. Just then a few old trucks drove by, locking Eliot and Kaira in a circle. Kaira placed a hand on Eliot's shoulder as he moved her behind him. He set his bag on the car and saw Rucker walking towards them, "Sorry for not properly introducing myself. Name's Jed Rucker. Welcome to the Rucker Fighting Method." Rucker said as men were getting out of the truck. Eliot moved Kaira back as Rucker signaled for one of his guys, Tommy to go after Eliot. Tommy went to throw a punch. Eliot was able to block the punch with his arms and get the guy down. Another guy came up to Eliot and backed him to the dumpster, but Eliot kicked him, giving him space to move forward. The guy punched Eliot, but then Eliot dodged another punch and picked the guy up, and threw him in the dumpster. The guy tried to climb out, but Eliot punched him. Then a bunch of guys surrounded Eliot. Eliot motioned for Kaira to get closer to their vehicle, and she did. Kaira was nervous. Eliot was a good fighter, but he couldn't use all his moves. One guy kicked Eliot in the stomach and then punched him. Eliot then grabbed the guy and moved into a chokehold. Kaira panicked for a moment. Rucker went up to Eliot. "Now, that's it. Enough." Rucker ordered. Kaira nodded at Eliot to let the guy go. "Get over there." Rucker told the guy. Kaira caught Parker recording the whole thing. Rucker extended a hand to help Eliot up. Kaira walked over. "And who the hell are you?" Rucker asked. Eliot was getting his breath. "Uploading video now." Parker reported. Kaira caught her leaving. "Got it." Hardison said.</p><p>"See, online video websites, they track viewer hits by I.P address so the trick is to just spoof a bunch of I.P's, then write a script that lets you browse the video page via the proxy list and..." Hardison explained as Nate cut him off. "That's great. We got a feed on the security camera at the gym?" Nate asked. "Yeah, yeah. The feed's on the tv now." Hardison said. "Oh, well, how come we're not hearing it? Where's the audio? We got audio?" Nate questioned. "Huh? No. Oh, but the earbuds work." Sophie said. She got in an argument with room service about chicken fried steak as Kaira and Eliot were talking with Rucker. "It's a hell of a welcoming committee you got here." Eliot said, holding an ice pack to his cheek. "Oh, that? Yeah. We, uh - we put all the newbies through that. We call it the gauntlet. So I can see you've had some training." Rucker told Eliot. "Some." Eliot answered. "And Wells - what, he's your manager?" Rucker asked. "He runs a league out of South Dakota." Kaira answered. "South Dakota? There's no athletic commission there." Rucker said. "That's the way he likes it. Kind of under-the-radar. Action's raw. Lot of amateurs trying to make a name for themselves." Eliot said. "So, so, what's he doing here?" Rucker asked. Eliot and Kaira looked at each other, nervous. "No, you - don't worry, kids. You can talk to me. I can make it worth your while." Rucker said. He put his arm around Eliot and they headed for the stairs. "He's here looking for talent. You know, some - some fresh blood." Eliot said. "Why?" Rucker asked. "We don't know. He sent us here to see if I could spot anybody worth poaching." Eliot answered. "Is that right?" Rucker questioned. "Look, all we know is that he has a meeting with a woman tomorrow and he needs guys by then." Kaira answered. "So, he has a meeting? Here?" Rucker questioned. "Hmm, that's interesting. Come up to the office. We'll have a drink." Rucker said. Kaira and Eliot followed him to the office.</p><p>They sat down and Rucker gave them drinks. "Here you go." Rucker handed them the drinks. "Thanks." Kaira said, smiling. She took a sip. Eliot just held his. Rucker moved to his desk. "So, tell me, uh, what's her name?" Rucker asked, sitting down with his drink. "We're supposed to pick her up from the airport." Eliot said. Eliot grabbed the slip from his back pocket. "She's coming in from L.A." Kaira said as Eliot handed Rucker the slip. "Miss Debbie Dreiling." Rucker said. He looked up the name of his computer. "She's a producer. Wells is working a tv deal." Rucker said, looking at the guy beside him. Nate had Hardison trip the news alert, which sent Rucker an email with the video of Eliot fighting, which went viral. "So, come fight for me." Rucker told Eliot. "I can't." Eliot said, nervous. "What's he paying you, three and threes? Five and five? You under contract?" Rucker questioned. "Sort of. I owe him money." Eliot said. "So you're his grunt. You're working it off." Rucker said. "I collect debts, you know. work security, bust noses. Sometimes he lets me fight." Eliot said. "I just make sure he gets there and comes back to me in one piece." Kaira said, smiling at her boyfriend. "Well, let me tell you something. This Wells is an idiot." Rucker got out of his seat and moved to the glass on the other side of the room. "It's a real waste of talent. See, most of these guys, they're pieces of meat, like the cows, they butcher at work. They come to my gym every night cause they think if they work hard enough and fight hard enough, that they can make it to Vegas. And the UFC. And energy drink contracts. And that's the dream I sell them. They listen to me because I can take that dream away. Now, you - you're different. You fight like something's trying to get out of you." Rucker said. He sat on his desk. "So, tell me. How much do you owe Wells?" Rucker asked. Eliot looked at Kaira nervous. "You can trust me. I'm here to help." Rucker said. Kaira waited to hear an amount. "Hardison, his financials." Nate rushed Hardison. "I know, I know. I told you back home, it's all a big mess." Hardison explained. "No, come on. I need something now. I mean, he's..." Nate argued. "His money's all over the place. Just give me a minute to plow through this, man." Hardison said. "Okay, Eliot, Kaira. Say, uh, 20 grand. 20 grand." Nate ordered. "20 grand." Eliot said. "We got into some trouble and wanted to start over. Wells found him training and offered to pay off our debt and buy us things like an apartment and a car, as long as we work for him. He's been trying to work it off ever since. And I've had to work the odd job here and there to help pay it off." Kaira explained, shaky a bit. "Well, I can swing that. I can even bump someone off my next card. You'll be fighting within days. But I'll need something in return. I'll need you to bring this - this Miss Debbie Dreiling to me. Before Wells. Now you do that, and I'll get you and your girl out." Rucker said. Karia and Eliot agreed to the deal. They left the gym and went back to the hotel.</p><p>The next day, Eliot and Kaira took Sophie to the golf course to meet with Rucker and Wells. They walked to the dining room. "Oh, this guy, he just - he gives me the creeps." Sophie said, dressed as Debbie. "We've gone up against rougher dudes than this before." Eliot said. "I know. But it's this whole treating people as commodities. This whole barbaric sport." Sophie said before Kaira cut her off. "Hey, Soph. Don't think that all these guys are like Rucker. Okay, Rucker isn't what the sports about. He's just a bastard." Kaira said. "Kaira, this "sport" is about two guys beating the crap out of each other." Sophie said. "MMA fighters act with more respect than any other athlete I've seen." Eliot explained. "Yeah, they're "Braveheart". I get it." Sophie said. "No, you don't. These guys don't fight because they like hurting people, all right. They fight to gain some sort of control - over their opponents, their environment, over their lives. Have you seen this town? Huh? The farms are drying up. The only stores are bail bondsman and pawn shops. And there's nothing they can do about it. So, yeah, they get in the ring and try not to let it all suffocate them." Eliot explained. Kaira placed a hand on his shoulder as Sophie looked at Eliot. "And it's about two guys beating the crap out of each other." Eliot said. Sophie exhaled and smiled as they kept walking. Eliot and Kaira sat Sophie down with Rucker as they ordered. They got their drinks and Kaira and Eliot watched. "I'm not saying that this Bill Wells is a liar. It's just that he - he overpromised." Rucker told Sophie. "What are you telling me?" Sophie asked as Debbie. "That he doesn't have the product that he says he did." Rucker said. Sophie chuckled.</p><p>"Sweetie, I think you may be operating on some misinformation. I'm just in town to produce a show." Sophie said. "But you're also here closing a tv deal with Wells. And, I'm guessing, a pay-per-view package. But the thing is, he doesn't have what you need. And that's why he's trying to steal my fighters." Rucker said. Eliot's phone rang, so he answered it. "Uh, excuse - I'm gonna - I got to take this." Eliot said. Kaira kissed his cheek and he left. Kaira tuned back in with Sophie and Rucker. "Say what you're saying is true. What exactly are you telling me?" Sophie questioned. "That you don't need him. He's a middleman. You need me." Rucker said. "My, my. What a little shark you are." Sophie flirted a bit and chuckled. "Are you sure we didn't have lunch at the Ivy last week?" Sophie asked. "Just trying to make you feel at home. Little Midwestern hospitality and all. You hungry? Because they serve a mean chicken fried steak here." Rucker said. "No." Sophie coughed. "Mnh-mnh. Um" Sophie chuckled. "I'm - I'm fine." Sophie said. "Well, bottom line is, you need good product. What - what event are you here to produce?" Rucker asked. "On it. There's a tractor pull in Grand Island, a livestock show in Council Bluffs... white people doing other white people things... oh, uh, Sophie, there's a Trianna concert in Omaha." Hardison reported. "Trianna?" Parker questioned. "She's that teeny bopper kid's star. She's got a show on that kid's network." Hardison explained. "Trianna." Sophie answered Rucker. "At the Mid-American Palace? That's a hot ticket. So let's say you've got Trianna-" Rucker was saying before Nate came in with Eliot. "Yeah, right. Enough. Enough's enough. I'm sorry - monkey boy and his little girlfriend here were supposed to take you to the hotel. It didn't happen." Nate said as Wells. Sophie got up and Kaira made her way over. "Quite all right, sweetie. I was just catching up with the local welcome wagon." Sophie said, getting her purse on. "Yeah, all the more reason I'm sorry." Nate said. "Well, I really enjoyed our conversation. Perhaps we could continue it at the concert later?" Rucker asked. "Pardon me?" Sophie questioned. "Turns out I'm going to the big show. Maybe we could meet up there." Rucker suggested. Sophie turned to Nate and he nodded his head yes. "Of course. Definitely." Sophie said. "Well, I look forward to it." Rucker said. Sophie joined the trio and they left. "Triana? Really?" Nate questioned. "Hey, man, look. You're lucky I didn't give you a monster truck rally on an Indian Reservation." Hardison said. "Now what?" Eliot questioned. "To hook this guy, we have to convince him Sophie's the real deal." Nate questioned. "How are we gonna do that?" Kaira questioned. "Let's go steal us a concert." Nate said.</p><p>Parker and Hardison went to the concert to steal the production team as Nate stalled the director so Hardison could be the director. Kaira went with Eliot to the gym to watch him train. Kaira liked watching Eliot train. She smiled at him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're turned on right now, Princess." Eliot smirked at her. "Maybe. I do like it when you train." Kaira smiled. That's when Nate came in to watch. Sophie got Rucker to pay half a million dollars for the production to get his fights filmed. "Did you get all that?" Sophie asked. "Got it. Great job. We should be on our way home by this time tomorrow." Nate said. Kaira smiled. "Good. Cause by then it will almost be me and Eliot's one year anniversary." Kaira said. "Really? A year already?" Nate questioned. "Yeah. Surprised myself." Eliot said. They left the gym a bit later. Then Sophie got a call that Rucker wanted to meet at the gym. Sophie walked in carrying a poster. "Hey, saw this in town." Sophie said. "Oh, yeah. It'll be a good gate. Lots of interest in the new boy. The message boards are blowing up. He's gonna fight Tank here. Tank, come here." Rucker called Tank over. "I want you to meet Debbie Dreiling. She's gonna make us all rich." Rucker said. Sophie chuckled. "Now, this is a lot of money. I need to know it's in good hands." Rucker said. "You're making a good bet." Sophie said. "I want to know I'm making a great bet. So, where are your partners?" Rucker asked. Kaira perked up. This could be bad. "Waiting for you to blow me off?" Rucker questioned. This was not good. "Uh, I'm sorry, I-I don't know what you-" Sophie was saying before getting cut off. "Well, let me tell you what. Alex's cousin Jimmy is in the fight scene in South Dakota. And guess what - he's never heard of Bill Wells." Rucker said. Sophie chuckled nervously and clicked her tongue. "Sweetie..." Sophie said. "Sweetie." Rucker repeated Sophie. "I-I think you're getting a little paranoid." Sophie said, trying to salvage her cover. "So you think you can come to my town, huh? Us country bumpkins, right? Cause all we can do is kick ass. I'll show you what us ass-kickers will do." Rucker said. Nate, Kaira, and Eliot went inside the gym. The con was officially blown.</p><p>"Let her go!" Kaira exclaimed. It was obvious she and Eliot were pissed. "All right. Leave her alone." Nate said. "Oh, look - look who's here. Wells. So, where's the rest of your crew? In the getaway car?" Rucker questioned. The trio went beside Sophie. "Yeah, all right. Parker, Hardison, break it down. We're out of here. Come on." Nate said. "Oh, you talk in a fancy wire, huh? Pretty fancy." Rucker said. "Yeah, nothing but the best for you, Rucker." Nate said, not happy. "Yeah, well, we're not all frauds. People do want to see you fight. So why don't you take on Tank here?" Rucker said, gesturing to the big dude next to him. "I got five seconds to kill out of my day." Eliot said, sizing up Tank. Kaira kept Eliot back as Rucker pushed Tank back. "No, no, no. Not here, Tank. But, you know, you're probably right. We've seen what you can do. But that's the thing, you know. See, you're favored. So I'm gonna need you to take a dive." Rucker said to Eliot. "Hell no." Kaira said, staring down Rucker. "Come on. Come on." Nate said. They all turned to leave. "Fine. Go back to L.A or whatever. It's a shame you won't be here next month when Jack Howorth's house goes on fire." Rucker warned. The team stopped and faced him. "Or in six weeks when Mark has a car accident. But you won't be around for any of that." Rucker taunted. "I'll do it." Eliot said. "No, babe." Kaira turned to face him. Eliot gave her a smile. "You don't have to do anything." Nate said. "Yeah, I do. And then you lay off the Howorths." Eliot negotiated. "You do what you have to and they'll be fine. But I'm betting it all on Tank here, so it can't look like a fix." Rucker said. The team turned to leave. "And feel free to use the gym. We don't want anybody to think you're not ready." Rucker said. Kaira took one last look at Rucker, flipping him off. They met Parker and Hardison outside the van.</p><p>They gave Hardison a look. "What? What? W-what was I supposed to do? It was cousin Jimmy." Hardison said. "He's right. We couldn't have planned for that." Sophie defended Hardison. "Look, you know what I can do? I can re-task a satellite, I can get level three NSA clearance, but I can't hack a hick." Hardison said. "All right, it doesn't matter. What do we do now?" Eliot questioned. "We can move the Howorths." Parker suggested. "We're not moving the Howorths. Alright? This is their home. That means something to people here." Eliot said. "Yeah, we can't babysit them forever." Sophie said. Kaira was not happy. "Listen, we've taken out bigger players than this. You know, there's got to be some way..." Nate said, thinking. "No. No. I take the dive." Eliot said. Kaira turned to him. "You sure you want to do this, cowboy?" Kaira asked, nervous. "It's the only way." Eliot said, grabbing her shoulders. "Give me some time, okay? I've found some funny business in Rucker's accounts. I can move some things." Hardison suggested. "Forget the fact that we just got beat by Barney Fife, all right? This is the right move. Tactically it's the right move. You all know that." Eliot said. He got in the van. Kaira followed. "I don't like it." Kaira said to Eliot. "I know, Princess, but it's the only way to help the Howorths." Eliot said. "I know. That's what sucks about this, cowboy." Kaira said, sighing. They went back to the room to make a plan of some kind to get Rucker. Eliot had gone to the gym. Kaira wanted to let him be for a while, so she stayed at the room.</p><p>Sophie soon went to the gym. Kaira went with her. It was dark by the time they got there. Eliot was doing drills, punching the air. He was sweaty and had his hair up. "Hey! Listen, you - you don't have to do this, you know. Nate's gonna come up with something." Sophie said. Eliot paused his drill. "I'm losing a fight, Sophie. I'm not diving on a grenade. I'll be alright." Eliot said. He went to resume his drill. "Yeah, I know. I'm not talking physically." Sophie said. "I think my ego can handle it." Eliot said. Eliot noticed Kaira's concern. "Look, you told me and your girlfriend that it's all about control, about knowing that you're never gonna be the victim. And that's what keeps you going, right?" Sophie said. Eliot leaned against the rope, looking at Sophie and Kaira. "You think I'm upset cause I got to let this guy kick my ass? I learned a long time ago, you can't control the violence. I can take the punishment. That's what I do. What I need to control is not out there." Eliot patted his chest. "It's here. Always. And she." Eliot pointed at Kaira, causing her to smile. "Helps me control it." Eliot said. Sophie gave him a smile and left. Kaira stayed. Kaira went up in the ring. Kaira started tearing up. "What's wrong, Princess?" Eliot questioned. Kaira hugged Eliot. She didn't care he was sweaty.</p><p>"I'm worried about you, Eliot. I don't like that I have to watch you get hurt. Usually, when we get in a fight, I'm always at your side. This time I can't." Kaira said, trying to calm down. Eliot shushed, rubbing Kaira's back. Kaira let go and held on to Eliot's arms. "I know you are. What's it been?" Eliot smiled at Kaira. Kaira smiled back, calming down. "Almost 5 years we've known each other, dated a year in two days." Kaira answered. Eliot chuckled. "Already? It feels like yesterday I told you I love you and we were in bed together." Eliot said, reminiscing. "Seems like yesterday that I saw you for the first time, in your army greens. A devilish look in your eyes and a rattlesnake smile. I remember thinking to myself, "Well, shit. This boy's gonna get me in trouble. But I'll like it." I remember your body. Like a 67 Chevy Impala. Sexy and handsome, yet rugged." Kaira smiled. "And I remember looking at you for the first time, thinking, "What's a pretty thing like her doing in the army? I better watch myself around her. She will kick my ass if I don't play this right." And that's when I went up to you and started flirting." Eliot smiled at Kaira. Kaira chuckled. "You're right. I will kick your ass." Kaira giggled. They looked at each other for a while. "You know when I saw you fight for the first time, I thought to myself, "Damn. She's everything I could ask for in a woman." Eliot said. Kaira smiled. "When I saw you fight for the first time, I was turned on, not gonna lie." Kaira chuckled with Eliot. Eliot pulled Kaira close to his lips. They kissed. "Be safe out there, cowboy." Kaira kissed him again. "Always, Princess." Eliot smiled. She left and got in the van. They waited for the others to arrive to set the venue.</p><p>Kaira joined Eliot in the back room while Nate and Hardison checked something. Kaira sat next to Eliot on the wooden bench. "You can do this, cowboy. I love you." Kaira said, placing a hand on Eliot's cheek. "I love you, too, Princess." Eliot smiled at her. They kissed again. They heard the crowd cheering. Kaira was nervous walking out with the team. Eliot went in the ring, placing one last kiss on Kaira's lips. Kaira got seated with Sophie and Parker as Nate and Hardison got Eliot ready at the corner of the ring, giving him water to drink. Nate and Hardison left the ring as Eliot prepared himself. "So, your friend knows to stick to the plan, right? He goes down, and I collect on my bet." Rucker reminded the women. "And you leave the Howorths alone." Sophie said. "And you get the hell out of my town." Rucker said. Kaira gave him a glare. Rucker seemed nervous at the glare. Nate and Hardison went up to Eliot. "All right. Listen to me. Listen to me. You make it look good, but not too good, all right?" Nate told Eliot. The bell rang. "Alright? Don't let it go past the second round." Nate reminded Eliot. They left the ring. The crowd was still cheering. The ref told Eliot and Tank to meet in the middle, and they hit hands. Then Tank swung his leg, which Eliot took to the stomach. Tank did the same move a few moments later, but Eliot blocked it with his forearm and punched Tank, but Tank dodged it. They went around and Tank went to hit Eliot again with his leg, but Elliot blocked it, landing a punch on Tank. Tank recovered and went to punch Eliot again, who blocked all of the punches, minus one, which sent Eliot to the ground. "Come on, baby!" Kaira yelled, nervous. Eliot got up and got into the fighting stance.</p><p>After a moment, Eliot lunged at Tank's waist, and knocked him to the ground. Tank went to put his legs around Eliot, but Eliot landed a couple of good punches on Tank. Rucker wasn't happy. "What the hell is he doing?" Rucker questioned, upset. "You told him to make it look good, didn't you?" Kaira retorted. Eliot tried to switch his position, but Tank kicked him in the face with his foot. Eliot stumbled back. Kaira winced at the sight. Eliot got right back up. Tank took a couple of jabs at Eliot, who looked woozy. Tank then tackled Eliot, sending him in the pole. Eliot yelled and Kaira tried to stay calm. Tank then had Eliot in a hold and started punching his stomach. Tank then flipped Eliot on the ground and started pounding him. Kaira watched nervously as Eliot's expression changed. She watched as Nate sniffed the bottle, looking at the women. Kaira immediately knew what he was saying. "You bastard! You drugged him!" Kaira exclaimed. "Why? He already said he'd go down!" Parker exclaimed. Kaira could hear Eliot grunting. This was not good. "What makes you think I would trust a bunch of lying grifters to keep their word?" Rucker said. Nate yelled at the ref. "Get the doctor, Parker - now." Sophie ordered, worried. Parker left. "No need. It'll be over in a couple of minutes." Rucker said. "You stupid, stupid, bastard! My man's not like any other fighters. His training is to survive. That's what he does! It takes all of his control to not kill somebody. You just took the safety off a very dangerous gun!" Kaira exclaimed. Just then, Eliot blocked Tanks punch and got him in a headlock with his legs.</p><p>Eliot then flipped Tank over and started pounding on him. Then Eliot flipped him again and started choking Tank with his legs. Tank was tapping, but Eliot didn't listen. Nate kept yelling at the ref. Rucker was nervous. The ref tried to peel Eliot off of Tank, but Eliot wasn't budging. Finally, they got Eliot off of Tank and the doctor went to examine him as Nate and Hardison took Eliot aside. The women were nervous. Did Eliot kill someone? The doctor then stuck Tank with something in a syringe. Rucker told his crew to get everyone out. The doctor performed CPR on Tank as everyone left. Kaira went up to Eliot, holding his face. "You okay, cowboy?" Kaira asked him nervously. "I'm okay. I'm okay." Eliot said, weaky. He held her hand. Nate, Hardison, and Rucker met on the ring. "What the hell just happened?" Rucker questioned Nate, accusingly. "What the hell are you doing?! You could have killed him!" Nate exclaimed. "You know how much you just cost me? I'm gonna make you pay." Rucker threatened Nate. Kaira got in the ring and got in Rucker's face. "You did this to yourself, you stupid son of a bitch! You're the one who drugged my boyfriend's water. You took the safety off the gun!" Kaira yelled. Rucker looked back at Nate. "Make me pay, huh?" Nate questioned. "We had a deal!" Rucker exclaimed. "You broke that deal when you drugged Eliot." Kaira said in a calm anger. "Hey, listen to me! Tank is dead!" The doctor exclaimed. Kaira started breathing heavily in panic. Everyone there was nervous. "No. No, wait." Rucker said, going to Tank's body. "You killed him." The doctor accused Rucker. "Wait a second, Doc. Look, are you sure?" Rucker questioned, getting panicked. Kaira walked over by Eliot and hugged him. He was sweaty, but Kaira didn't care.</p><p>"There's nothing I can do." The doctor said. "Listen! Listen to me! He could just be out!" Rucker exclaimed. "I've got to call the police." The doctor said, getting out his phone. "No police! Listen to me! Listen - listen, we can work this out. Keep it in the family? I'll make it worth your while." Rucker pleaded. "There were hundreds of witnesses, plus we've got a dead body. What am I supposed to do about that?" The doctor explained. "And also, we ain't family." The doctor told Rucker off. Rucker started getting up. "All right. All right. You're right. You're right. You call the police, and I'm gonna - I'm gonna call the athletic commission." Rucker said. He left. The team sat down in the seats, waiting for Parker. "Parker, you got him?" Nate asked. "Yep. He's gone." Parker reported. The team was relieved. "You plant the transmitter?" Nate asked. "Wired to his GPS." Parker reported. Hardison got on his phone and started tracking Rucker. "Looks like he's heading to Iowa." Hardison reported. "Make the call." Nate ordered. Just then Jack Howorth arrived. The team stood up. "Uh, just give me a sec. Doc? You got Tank, right?" Nate asked. "Yeah. Oh, he'll be fine. Should come around in a few minutes." The doctor explained. "Wait, wait. He's not dead?" Jack questioned. The doctor pulled the syringe out. "Succinylcholine. It's a mild paralytic. It only works for a few minutes." The doctor explained. He put the syringe back in his pocket. "Yeah, it was just enough to scare off Rucker." Nate said. "So - so Eliot..." Jack questioned, coming around the ring. "He didn't kill anyone. Nathan found the drugged water and swapped it for a clean one before the fight." Kaira explained. "Rucker's not too original when it comes to this kind of thing, apparently." Nate said, holding up the water bottle.</p><p>Parker returned. The doctor came down. "So, Jonny, you were in on this?" Jack asked the doctor. "Mr. Ford and his friends came and asked me for help. I told him around here, we always stand up for our own. Where's Rucker?" The doc said. "Oh, the Iowa State Police just got a tip that a fugitive is headed in their jurisdiction. And I'm pretty sure crossing state lines with a bag full of cash won't look too good." Hardison explained. "Especially when they find the little surprise in his trunk." Parker said. Kaira recalled Parker going to the gun store nearby and handing a guy an envelope of cash, asking him for 6,000 dollars worth of guns. And a toy. "That should hold him off until the IRS gets down here." Nate explained. "The IRS?" Jack questioned. "Yeah, the money that Rucker makes from these fights? Well, it's all in cash." Sophie explained. "Yeah, and he wasn't too good about reporting that income." Hardison explained. Kaira recalled Hardison saying Rucker's financials were a mess, and that he should look through it. "All we had to do was flag the government about the tax evasion." Hardison continued. "Rucker won't be coming back to town anytime soon." Parker said. "He doesn't have anything to come back for. He bet everything on Tank." Kaira explained. "So all that money's gone?" Jack asked. "Well, you see, not exactly." Nate said. Kaira recalled that because of the amount of money, Alex, Rucker's second, had to lay the money on a bunch of different bookies, which were all controlled by Hardison. The doctor went to examine Eliot. Kaira sat next to him. "You took a hell of a pounding. We should get you a CT scan." The doctor said, having shown a light in Eliot's eyes. "You could have internal bleeding." The doctor continued, sitting down. Jack grabbed the ice pack. "You let yourself get hammered like that on purpose? That's a hell of a lot of punishment to take." Jack said. Eliot put the ice pack on his shoulder. "That's what he does." Sophie said, smiling at the couple. "My cowboy. Always willing to get hurt for others." Kaira smiled at him. Eliot smiled back. They left. Kaira helped patch Eliot up, comforting him to help him heal.</p><p>The next day at the gym, they met back up again. Jack went to get Mark, who had gotten out of the hospital. "So, with Rucker out of the picture, management of this gym and all the fighters - it's all up in the air." Nate explained. "You guys could use a fresh start." Parker said. "They just need a little direction." Sophie said. "I mean, the place could use some spit and polish, but it's solid." Hardison said. "You might not be able to fight anymore, but you know the sport. You know what it means to commit to something." Eliot said to Mark. "So, what do you say? Run the joint the right way?" Kaira smiled at Mark. "Plus, you know what? You'll have some seed money from Rucker's bet. I mean, enough to get you started." Nate said. "Let me get this straight - you guys want me to be in charge? Of all this? Of all the guys?" Mark questioned. Jack chuckled. "They're fighters. Like you. You treat them that way and you'll be fine." Eliot said. Nate grabbed the keys from his pocket and tossed them to Mark. Jack hit his son's shoulder. "What do you say, son?" Jack said, excited. "Thank you." Mark said to Eliot, shaking his hand. They all shook hands with each other. The team then started walking as Mark and Jack talked about what to do with the gym. Sophie was eating pork rinds. "Pork rind?" Sophie offered Parker and Kaira. Parker and Kaira declined. "They're actually pretty good." Sophie said, eating one. The team met back up in the van and drove to the hotel. Hardison got everything ready to move out.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot drove back to Boston and their apartment and arrived the next day. Kaira was so glad they were home. Kaira and Eliot sat their bags down and smiled at each other. Kaira went up to Eliot. "You know, today is our anniversary." Kaira said. "Indeed it is." Eliot said. "I'll get your gift as soon as I get you some ice to put on your shoulder." Kaira said, going to the freezer. "No, Kaira. I'm fine." Eliot said, grabbing her hand. "Please, Eliot. For me? It'll help with the swelling." Kaira said. Eliot gave in. "Alright. I'll get my gift for you when you get yours." Eliot said. Kaira grabbed the ice pack from the freezer and gave it to Eliot. She kissed his not sore cheek and went into the bedroom. Kaira grabbed the medium-sized box from the closet. Eliot grabbed his gift. He plugged in the radio they had and set it on the island in the kitchen and grabbed the cassette tape and a small black box. He opened it, admiring the ring inside. It was a simple, yet elegant platinum ring. He heard Kaira coming, so he put it in his pocket. Kaira walked back into the kitchen. She looked curiously at the radio. "I'll give you yours first." Kaira said. She handed the box to Eliot. He tore the wrapping paper, revealing small glass jars filled with various high-quality herbs and spices. Eliot looked at Kaira, smiling. "Thank you, Princess. I love it!" Eliot kissed her cheek in thanks. Eliot sat the box on the island and grabbed the cassette tape. He looked at Kaira. "Now, your gift." Eliot said. He put the cassette tape in the radio and hit play. Kaira heard the strumming of a guitar. Then she heard Eliot sing. Eliot held his hand out for Kaira to grab. She grabbed it and Eliot pulled her to him. Eliot and Kaira swayed to the music, her head on his shoulder.</p><p>(Listen to the song before continuing the story. If for some reason you can't play the video, the song is More than I Deserve by Christian Kane.)</p><p>Kaira had tears in her eyes. She let go of Eliot and wiped her tears. She had heard Eliot sing and play guitar before, but not with that much emotion. "When did you make that?" Kaira asked, composing herself. "When we had that off time, I knew our anniversary was coming soon, so I got ahold of a buddy of mine in Texas and recorded that song when you were off doing that solo gig." Eliot answered. Quickly, his demeanor changed. He was nervous. "Cowboy, why are you nervous?" Kaira questioned, worried. Eliot exhaled. "I have another present for you." Eliot said. He composed himself and closed the distance between them. "When we talked for the first time, I told myself, "Now, Eliot, you got to marry this girl." You are the most amazing woman I've ever met. You're smart, brave, kind, loyal, and stubborn as hell." Kaira and Eliot chuckled. Kaira teared up. "You are more than I deserve because you are way out of my league. Which is why I was so shocked when you followed me to this life. But I wouldn't change it. Not for the world." Eliot said, getting emotional. "I wouldn't either." Kaira choked out through happy tears. "You've been with me through Hell and back. These last close to five years of being your partner, and this past year of being your boyfriend, have been the best years of my life. I couldn't imagine being in this life with anyone else. I love you so damn much, Kaira. That's why I got you this." Eliot said. Kaira was wiping her tears and smiling when Eliot got down on one knee and pulled out the black ring box in his pocket and opened it, revealing the engagement ring. "Kaira Lynn Newton, will you marry me?" Eliot choked out. Kaira was speechless. She shook her head yes enthusiastically, still wiping tears. "Yes?" Eliot questioned to confirm, a nervous smile on his face as he stood up. "Yes!" Kaira exclaimed. She hugged Eliot, who smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He grabbed her hand and moved the promise ring to her right ring finger and put the engagement ring on her left ring finger, shaking slightly in excitement. Kaira hugged Eliot, burying her face in his shoulder. Eliot chuckled in relief. They let go and looked at each other.</p><p>Eliot placed a hand on Kaira's waist and on her neck and Kaira held some of Eliot's hair and placed the other on his toned back. They pulled into a passionate kiss. They chuckled again and Kaira looked at her hand. "God this is... you've outdone yourself, Cowboy." Kaira looked at Eliot. "You have no idea how nervous I was." Eliot said, relieved. "Really? Why? Think I'd say no?" Kaira questioned, curious. "Yeah." Eliot admitted. "I would say yes every time you asked me, Eliot. I love you." Kaira held Eliot. "I love you too, Kaira." Eliot held Kaira. They kissed again. Kaira's eyes got wide. "Holy shit! I'm engaged!" Kaira laughed, excitedly. Eliot laughed at his fiancé. "Yes you are, Princess." Eliot smiled. "You want to wait to tell the others, or do you want to tell them now?" Eliot asked. Kaira thought a moment. "I kinda want to keep it to ourselves for the moment, just to let it sink in, you know?" Kaira answered. "Alright. Whenever you want to tell them, let me know and we'll do it together." Eliot said. They kissed again. "I think it's time to celebrate. Bedroom?" Eliot smiled, grabbing Kaira's hand and leading her to the bedroom. "Hell yeah, cowboy." Kaira smiled. They went over to the bed and stripped down to their undergarments, both getting hot. They crawled up on the bed and kissed a hard, passionate kiss. Then Eliot grabbed Kaira's waist and moved her on her back on the bed. Eliot peppered her stomach and neck with kisses. Kaira enjoyed it. Kaira then flipped Eliot over. Eliot chuckled, surprised a bit. "You're not the only one with moves, Cowboy." Kaira grinned. Kaira kissed Eliot, being mindful of his cheek. They continued like that for a moment, before kissing one last time and going to bed. They both smiled as they slept. They were starting a new chapter in a new city, and a new apartment. Kaira and Eliot couldn't wait for what would happen next in their crazy lives.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>P.S when Kaira and Eliot are at the gym, and Kaira is saying about how when they first met, Eliot had a rattlesnake smile, that is referencing Christian Kane's song Rattlesnake Smile, which I love to listen to. Also when Kaira is describing her first thoughts of Eliot, with the devilish looks and the 67 Chevy body and how she knew he was gonna get her in trouble, but she'd like it? That's referencing another song called 67 (Winchester) by Reyna Roberts, another song I love. I also hoped you enjoyed the Kaliot proposal! (yes, I made a ship name for these characters, I know)<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. The Order 23 Job (2x3)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team takes on a con artist who stole money from his clients, faking an outbreak at a hospital to get him to reveal the money's location. With Kaira still over the moon about her engagement to Eliot, how will the team react to their hitter's new relationship status? And how will Kaira react to some information Eliot reveals?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a bit since the last job. Kaira was still over the moon about her surprise engagement to Eliot. It had begun to sink in, but not all the way yet. It still shocked her that she had Eliot. They woke up and just cuddled. Kaira looked at her ring. She smiled at it. "God, I still can't believe it." Kaira said. "What? That you're engaged?" Eliot questioned. "Yeah. I guess I never thought I was the type to get married until you came around." Kaira smiled at Eliot. "I know the feeling. I still can't believe someone as amazing as you agreed to marry someone like me." Eliot smiled. Kaira went on top of Eliot and kissed him. "It didn't take much." Kaira grinned. Eliot kissed Kaira, placing his hands on her waist. Just then the phone rang. Kaira chuckled as she laid back next to Eliot. "Yeah. Alright. See you there." Eliot said, hanging up the phone. "You gonna keep me waiting, Cowboy?" Kaira smiled. "We got another job. Nate wants us to meet at the apartment." Eliot said. Kaira gave Eliot a quick peck before getting up. She walked over to the closet. She grabbed clothes and caught Eliot looking at her. "Cowboy, you got something on your lip." Kaira teased. "What?" Eliot questioned. "Drool." Kaira grinned. Eliot got flustered and got up. "Hey, cowboy calm down. I don't mind you looking." Kaira said, stopping Eliot. "Good. Cause I ain't planning on stopping." Eliot smirked. Kaira hit his shoulder and giggled as she finished changing. Eliot changed too and they arrived at the apartment. Kaira was surprised that none of the team had seen the engagement ring she was wearing. She wasn't hiding it, but she wasn't exactly showing it off either. Hardison filled them in. Their target, Eddie Maranjian - an Armenian con man masquerading as a hedge fund manager. He stole money from his clients and had a court date later that day. They decided to go to the court hearing to meet with one of the clients.</p><p>They left and arrived at the court hearing. The people in the court were not happy with the decision that Eddie got less time than deserved because he was a snitch. Nate went in with Kaira and stopped a man from pulling a gun out. Nate had his hand on the gun and he turned. "Easy." Nate said, grabbing the gun. "Come with us." Kaira said. The client, Ronald, went up to Eddie, who was being handcuffed, and clocked him. Kaira and Nate met up with him after in the hallways. "You're lucky they just gave you a warning, Ronald." Nate said, walking with both Kaira and Hardison. "How do you know my name?" Ronald asked, with an Armenian accent. "Oh, that. Yes, well, I think this belongs to you." Nate said, handing Ronald his wallet back that Parker lifted. "You guys cops?" Ronald questioned. "No, no. Our group provides... restitution to those who need it." Kaira explained. Ronald looked confused. "We're trying to help Eddie's clients." Nate continued explaining. "A little late for that now." Ronald said. "No, no, no, no. The judge says the money Eddie Maranjian stole is gone. We don't believe that. Eddie liquidated 400,000 dollars right before his trial. And it looks like it's still in this town. And we came here to find it for you and the other victims." Hardison explained. They stopped. "Nobody wants to see this guy just get a slap on the wrist for being a snitch, Ronald, but killing him?" Kaira said. "He's a thief, not a murder." Nate said. "My sister Natalie, she wasn't a big shot, you know? She was a widow. Her husband worked his whole life, left her enough to live on. Then she met Eddie. He was smart, responsible, and Armenian, like us." Ronald explained. "Yeah, well, they call these affinity crimes, people who pray on fellow members of ethnic groups." Nate explained. "Eddie took my sister's money. Then she got sick. Only she didn't see a doctor or tell anybody because she didn't want to be a burden. My sister died in a hospital bed, and it didn't have to happen. But Eddie, oh, he's just a thief, right?" Ronald said. "I'm sorry about your sister. I lost my sister when I was 17 because the guy we turned to in order to pay for the treatment wouldn't pay it." Kaira said, sympathetically. Ronald nodded in understanding. They left and met with Sophie, Parker, and Eliot in the courtroom.</p><p>Eliot was there when they walked in, sitting on the jury seats. Kaira joined in next to Hardison who looked up some information. Nate paced, thinking. Sophie and Parker came in and sat down on the seats as well. "Eddie's new address in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, is the original "Club Fed"." Hardison explained. "He's got his own nine-hole golf course. Vegan menu." Eliot said. "That's his punishment?" Kaira questioned, surprised. "This dude can play frisbee with the guys from Enron in the Quadrangle." Hardison continued explaining. "I hate those guys. 18 months in a country club, this guy." Eliot said, not happy. "Yeah, and then when he gets done, he gets to come home and collect his hidden cash." Parker said. "Then probably go off the grid with a whole new identity and do this again." Kaira pointed out. "All right, so if this guy is not afraid of prison, then what incentive does he have to tell us where the cash is?" Sophie questioned. Nate went silent. The team looked at him. "I'm thinking." Nate said. "Nate, I hate to rush you, but Eddie goes to the prison in an hour, so..." Parker pointed out. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Nate said. He walked away and saw the hand sanitizer on the table. He picked it up, thinking more. "What are you more afraid of than - than prison?" Nate asked the crew. "Death?" Sophie questioned. "And what are you more afraid of than death?" Nate asked. He tossed the hand sanitizer to Eliot. "Sickness." Kaira realized. Parker climbed into the vents and waited for Eddie to get his bottled water opened and Parker tapped on the vents, making it sound like rats were up there. Kaira watched as Eddie panicked. The Marshals told Eddie about the rats in Florida prisons. Parker put a drop of something to knock Eddie out in his drink using a string. Eddie took a sip. Parker got out of the vents and Kaira left. Nate examined Eddie after he passed out. The Marshal told Nate thanks for examining him. "You got me out of Jury Duty. I should be thanking you. Pupils are dilated. Mr. Maranjian. Mr. Maranjian, what state are we in?" Nate asked. "Massachusetts." Eddie answered, groaning. "What's your birthday?" Nate asked. "June... June 8th." Eddie answered. He tried to get up, but Nate stopped him. "No, no, no. Take it easy. Take it easy. That's it. Did he suffer any head trauma?" Nate said. "Yeah, he got punched out in court earlier." Charlie answered. He was the Marshal. "Oh, well... I'd say he has a concussion. Of course, I'll have to do an MRI to be sure." Nate said. "Yeah, well, he can get one at the prison infirmary. Our flight leaves in about an hour." Robert, the only other Marshal transporting him. "I don't think you understand. No, no. He's not going anywhere. This is very serious. This man could have a subdural hemorrhage. He is not fully cleared to fly until I fully check him out. I'm gonna make arrangements for a transfer." Nate said. He did just that. Then they met back up and walked out of the courtroom. "Okay. So, what do we do now?" Parker questioned. "Well, I just sent Eddie to the hospital, so let's go steal us a hospital." Nate said.</p><p>They arrived at the hospital. Nate walked in with Parker and Kaira as Hardison and Eliot stalled the Marshals. "So, let me get this straight. You're a doctor." Parker questioned Nate. "Yeah." Nate said. "What if someone asks you to deliver a baby?" Parker questioned. "I'd say I'm not an obstetrician." Nate answered. "What? A what?" Parker asked. "A baby doctor." Kaira answered. "Oh, well, what if there's a train accident and there's stretchers everywhere, and someone points to you and says, "Hey, you, help me with this sucking chest wound."?" Parker questioned. "I would stick my hand in the chest and hope for the best." Nate said. "You could say your not a trauma surgeon." Kaira answered. "Oh, you both are so not operating on me." Parker retorted. "Okay, do you have - do you have the list?" Nate asked. "Yeah." Kaira answered. "Yeah? All right, go shopping." Nate ordered, pushing Parker to the hallway next to them. Kaira followed. They got the things and got a room ready. The team went to the meeting room and saw Hardison and Nate at the computer, setting up the audio files. "Are you sure there's no patients on this floor?" Parker asked. "No. They use this place for storage. We own it." Hardison said. "All right, well, here's the stuff from the van plus almost everything on the list." Parker said, opening her bag. "And nurses haven't worn skirts with white stockings since the '70s, Nathan." Kaira quipped. "Guys, listen up. Eddie is here for an MRI. That gives us two hours. I don't need to tell you that's not a lot of time. You might be playing multiple parts in this one. Parker, Kaira, and I are the medical team. Sophie, you're next door as a patient." Nate was explaining when Eliot and Hardison started arguing. "What are you doing?" Hardison asked Eliot. "Eliot and Hardison-" Nate tried to get their attention. "This is my shirt." Eliot said. "No, give me the shirt." Hardison argued. "Give me the shirt." Eliot argued. "Guys." Nate got their attention. "No, wait. I-I can't wear a size 16 neck. Okay, I got to breathe." Hardison argued. "I got to wear my scrubs underneath the uniform. I need a bigger neck." Eliot argued. "Just keep your eye on the Marshals, all right? We got two hours starting... now. Go." Nate ordered. Kaira put on her stethoscope. "If you don't give me that shirt-" Hardison argued. "Listen to me, son, you need those fingers to type on your little keyboard, don't you?" Eliot threatened, gripping the shirt. "So you know, a bully is just a cowboy with low self-esteem." Hardison said as Eliot ripped the shirt. He turned back around as Kaia tried to not laugh. "What was that, now?" Eliot asked Hardison. "I said what?" Hardison asked Eliot. "My insecure ass is gonna be wearing this shirt." Eliot said, leaving. Hardison acted like he was gonna punch, Eliot.</p><p>Kaira laughed. "What? Kaira, what's so funny about your boyfriend taking my shirt?" Hardison looked at Kaira. "Just you two fight like brothers. And Eliot was my boyfriend. He's my fiancé now." Kaira smiled at the team. The team perked up, shocked as Eliot came back in the room. "Princess, I thought we were gonna tell them together." Eliot said. "Yeah. You're right." Kaira said. Kaira and Eliot side hugged as Kaira held up her left hand, showing the ring off. "We're engaged!" Kaira exclaimed as Eliot grinned. The team smiled at the couple. "You're engaged? Since when?" Hardison questioned. "Since our one year anniversary." Kaira said. Nate walked up to Kaira and hugged her. "Congratulations, kiddo." Nate said, slightly emotional. "Thanks, Nathan." Kaira said, softly. Sophie hugged Kaira next. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Sophie exclaimed. "Thanks Sophie." Kaira said. Parker and Hardison hugged them both. "Congrats, little sis." Hardison said. "Thanks." Kaira whispered. "Thanks." Eliot whispered. They let go and Kaira and Eliot composed themselves. "Thank you guys. Now let's go get this son of a bitch." Kaira said. The team got ready. Parker and Kaira went to get Eddie. Parker sprayed an irritant on a wheelchair and rolled it over to the waiting room. "Mr. Maranjian?" Parker called out. They arrived at the waiting room. "It's time for your MRI." Kaira said. "Could you remove his restraints, please?" Parker asked. "What?" Marshal Robert questioned. "There's no metal allowed in the MRI chamber. Safety hazard." Kaira explained. "I'll cut him loose when we get to the door." Marshal Robert said. Eddie moved into the wheelchair. "Relax Bob. You're only taking off my chains so they can stuff me in a tin can." Eddie said. Parker went to wheel him. "You're not claustrophobic, are you, Mr. Maranjian?" Parker said. "Because you have nothing to be afraid of." Kaira whispered. Eddie looked nervous as they wheeled him over to the MRI machine. "Let's go over the code." Hardison told Eliot, who had just walked in. "What code? We're a couple of cops." Eliot retorted. "Unarmed cops who may need to communicate in code. So, I'll look, I'll casually mention Star Trek." Hardison explained. "Great. Cause that comes up a lot." Eliot quipped. "It does. Look, I-if I mention Star Trek one, three, or five - Then everything's okay because the odd ones suck. But if I mention two, four, or six, then we're in trouble. So, say I mention "The Search for Spock", what do you do?" Hardison asked. Eliot went silent for a moment. "I don't have a tv." Eliot said. "Everybody has TVs. Dead people have TVs. Don't have a TV." Hardison was surprised.</p><p>Kaira and Parker arrived at the MRI room. Nate came from behind the class. "Mr. Maranjian, let's see if we can't get you out of here in a jiff." Nate said, putting on his stethoscope. "Take your time. I'm in no hurry." Eddie said. "Roll up your sleeve, please." Nate said. Eddie did, revealing the rash. "Woah." Kaira said. "Oh, that must be very itchy. When did you get that rash?" Nate asked. "I never noticed that before." Eddie said. "Oh. Really? Huh - Nurses, we're gonna have to do some tests before the MRI. If you could bring Mr. Maranjian to the eighth floor, please." Nate said. Kaira and Parker acted nervous. "Eight?" Parker questioned. "You sure, Doctor?" Kaira asked. "Did I not make myself clear?" Nate said, cocking his head. "Uh, is something wrong?" Eddie asked, a bit nervous. "No, no, no. Not at all. It's just - it's routine. We'll have you back down here in a jiff. Nurse, if you could take him out the side door, that would be great." Nate said. Parker did. Once she got Eddie out of the room, Kaira and Nate placed the replacement for Eddie in the MRI tube and went back upstairs. "All we got to do is keep these Marshal's out of the MRI room." Hardison pointed out. "I don't know why you had to bring stupid ass doughnuts, man. You're not even ready." Eliot said. "I am ready. I am 97.10 percent ready." Hardison said, unamused with being insulted. "Hey, there. Ted Crichton." Eliot said. "Bob Corville." Robert introduced himself. "Nice to meet you." Eliot said, chuckling. "And, uh, Charlie Merrill. Charlie!" Robert said. "Well, I-I'm Greg Michaels. It's just a little welcome from the Belbridge P.D." Hardison said. "Hey, appreciate it. Hopefully, we'll be out of your hair pretty soon here." Robert said. "Oh, don't worry about it, man. They get better medical than we do, huh?" The Marshals and Eliot and Hardison chuckled at that. "Whatever happened to just busting rocks, huh?" Eliot said, causing some laughter. Parker and Kaira finished getting Eddie set up in his room. Parker clicked his handcuffs on the bed. "Oh. Buy me dinner first." Eddie joked. "Marshals' orders." Parker said. "Sorry, hotshot, but I'm spoken for." Kaira said, flashing her engagement ring. Eddie chuckled. "What a shame." Eddie said. Kaira left behind Parker.</p><p>That cued up Sophie. "Hi. I'm Bridget." Sophie introduced herself in a New York accent. "Eddie. I'd shake your hand but..." Eddie said. "Wow! You a hardcase or something?" Sophie asked. "I am going to prison." Eddie said, proud. "Really? Ooh. Can you pass along a little message to my ex? Actually, it's some photos of me." Sophie chuckled. "Ah, this day just keeps getting better." Eddie said, leaning back on the bed. Sophie laughed and snorted. "How is this supposed to work? I barely dosed him with Rohypnol. It must have worn off my now. Especially with the rash." Parker questioned. "Yeah, look at him. He's - he's totally fine. This thing - I need you to read on the..." Nate spun his finger in the air. "P.A?" Kaira questioned. "P.A thing, yeah." Nate confirmed. "You want me to make announcements?" Parker questioned. "Yeah, could you, uh..." Nate said. "You're really selling the whole hospital experience." Kaira said. "Mm, no. But that's not what I'm selling." Nate said. Kaira watched as Sophie told a story to Eddie as Parker left. "I get up to use the jukebox, and this little skank goes and parks herself on my bar stool. And I'm like, "No, no, no, no. I got dibs on that." And you know what she does? Nothin'. Like I'm not even there." Sophie told the story, sitting on Eddie's bed. "Dr. Burns, please report to the cardiac ward. Dr. Burns to the cardiac ward. Infectious disease unit, please pick up line 23. Infectious disease, pick up 23." Parker announced over the P.A system. She walked back in. "See, y-you tell someone they have a bunch of symptoms, and the information gets processed in the executive center of the brain, right? Its job is to question assumptions, start an argument. But if you suggest symptoms, you can bypass all that." Nate explained. "Like subliminal advertising?" Parker questioned. "It's actually neurolinguistic programming, you know the gateway to the amygdala, which is the fear center of the brain. You asked what we're selling. That's - that's what we're selling." Nate explained. "So we're selling..." Parker questioned. "Fear." Nate answered. "Oh. Fear." Parker realized. "Yeah." Nate said. "That's actually cool and scary at the same time." Kaira said to Nate. They watched as Sophie told a story again. "So, I eyeball the bartender, Casey, and I'm like, "Hey, back me up here." You know what he does? Looks away. Yeah. And we used to go out. You know, not out, but like, you know, hook up. So I figure, I got to take care of myself." Sophie was telling the story when Eddie pulled up the news channel, which had a special report but was shut off. "Eddie? Eddie, hey, I'm talking here." Sophie said. "Did you - did you see that?" Eddie said, a little anxious. "What?" Sophie questioned. "It said 'Special Report'. It was there for a second, and then it was gone." Eddie said. Sophie acted confused. "Huh. 'Special Report', huh? Hey, maybe someone took a pop at the Pope." Sophie brushed it off. "It could happen." Sophie said, scratching her wrist. Kaira closed the door as Nate played a recording with Eliot and Hardison, suggesting that the military was involved in an outbreak and Order 23. Eddie was nervous and scratching his neck.</p><p>Kaira tuned in to the story Hardison was telling. "So, I go to the bar, right? And this blonde who looks like my partner in a tube top has a handful of this brunette's hair, right? So, the brunette's screaming, "Give me back my weave!" W-what is the blonde supposed to do, sew it back in?" Hardison said to the Marshals. They laughed. "I can't believe what you guys have to do, man. You guys are nuts." Robert was saying before they panicked. A nurse informed them that she had to use the MRI because there was a three-vehicle accident on the freeway. A moment later, the Marshals spoke. "We've got a runaway." Robert said. Kaira got nervous. "Boys, you can't let them report that in, or they blow the con." Kaira said. "I know, sweetheart." Eliot said. Just then Eliot got the Marshal's attention just as he got on the radio. "Hey, Bob. Bob, Bob, Bob. Is that the best play this? I mean... come with me. You were supposed to be watching that guy. I mean we were supposed to be watching this guy. This is a career ender, for all of us." Eliot said, quietly. "What are you suggesting?" Robert questioned. "All right, there's cameras all over this hospital. Okay, I say we check the footage. We go room by room until we find him." Eliot said. "This never happened." Hardison said. Charlie sighed. "My wife just had a baby." Charlie said. "His wife just had a baby." Hardison said. "And I just got engaged, man. She actually works at this hospital, so she can help us look." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled. Nate looked at her and smiled. "Coming your way, babe. Text me before I show up." Kaira said, leaving. "Okay. But when I say we're done, I'm calling it in. You got that?" Robert said. "Okay." Eliot said. "Let's go. Oh, and congratulations Ted." Robert said. "So much for having two hours." Parker said. "We're gonna stick with the original plan. We're just gonna move things up. Eliot, lose the uniform. Sophie... it's time." Nate ordered. Kaira went back up to the room and waited. "Hardison, if the Marshals ask where we are, say that Ted went to go find me." Kaira said. "I step away for, like, two minutes, and you know what she does?" Sophie said. "She takes your barstool. You told me already." Eddie said, annoyed. "Is it getting... hot in here?" Sophie said. Then Nate put on some more sound effects to make it sound like someone was bleeding bad. "I can't..." Sophie said, trying to get air. She then started screaming.</p><p>Then the gang acting as hospital staff came in. Kaira shut the curtain. They used the shadows to act out the scene. Nate was the doctor, trying to comfort "Bridget", then Eliot and Kaira pretended to be the nurses getting the IV ready. Then "Bridgit" was coughing and then Kaira got the intubator (I think that's what it's called) ready. Then they had "Bridgit" flatline and Parker "shocked Bridgit", but it failed. The whole time, Eddie was freaking out. Then Eliot pronounced her dead, then they left with Sophie in tow, not comforting a scared Eddie. Hardison had the Marshals looking at footage. The Marshals and Hardison decided to search the whole building for Charlie. Eliot and Charlie were gonna be searching the north wing, Hardison and Robert were gonna check the south wing, and Kaira was gonna check the east and west wing. They were gonna meet downstairs. "North wing with Charlie. I got it." Eliot said. Kaira was still in the meeting room, waiting for orders. "Tell me why I just pulled two sets of car keys off these guys. Why would they be riding desperately? I'll go check it out." Hardison said. Eliot remained silent. "Eliot. Eliot. Eliot." Hardison said. "Yeah, well, we can't keep disappearing on these guys. Bob's barely hooked as it is." Eliot said. "I can stall them until you get back." Kaira offered. "Sounds good, sweetheart." Eliot said. Kaira watched the feed as Eddie was freaking out because alarms were blaring. "What do we do now?" Parker asked. "Now? Now we wait. This is the stall. It's no different than any other con." Nate explained. Kaira and Parker both noticed that Eddie's nose was bleeding and that Sophie came in. "Oh my god! His nose." Kaira pointed out, surprised. "Is that real blood?" Parker asked. "Yes. Yes it is." Nate said. "Did you just give a guy a nosebleed with the power of your mind?" Parker questioned. "Amygdala mania. Hmm. Almond tonsils. Hmm." Nate said, pleased with himself. "Is it just me, or has Nate gotten a little sadistic since he quite drinking?" Parker questioned quietly. "Is it just me, or does that make him even more attractive?" Sophie questioned. "No, it's just you." Kaira said, unamused.</p><p>It was a moment before Hardison came on comms. "Eliot, Kaira, can you talk? What's Charlie doing?" Hardison questioned. "I haven't gotten there yet." Eliot said. "Yeah, I can talk. What's going on?" Kaira said. "No wonder I couldn't hear you on my comms. Eliot, stop checking out the nurses and get your ass down to Charlie! You have a fiancé. How I don't know, but you do." Hardison said. "I'm on my way, now shut up." Eliot said. "Great. You just pissed him off." Kaira said. "He'll get over it." Hardison said. Kaira was suspicious of how quiet Eliot was. A moment later, she was looking at the feeds with Nate, Sophie, and Parker when someone came in. "Who the hell is that?" Parker asked. "That is hospital security. We didn't have a chance to break down there schedule. Okay, looks like someone's crashing our party. Sophie, you're up." Nate said. Sophie went to get up. "You know, I once had to play six parts in "Nicholas Nickleby", and Mrs. Squeers and Phib had a bloody song together." Sophie complained. Kaira got up. "Sophie, I can handle it. I am a grifter, remember." Kaira smirked as she left. She went up to the security guard in a hazmat suit. "Excuse me, hi." Kaira said. "What are you doing here? Who are you?" He asked, pointing his taser. "Hey, calm down. I'm a nurse here. My fiancé is a cop and he's downstairs. I am keeping an eye on a prisoner for him. He may have been exposed to something from the arrest, which is why he's here. You may want to wash up. Water neutralizes it. If you want to return to work, you have to wash your body and your clothes." Kaira explained. Just then, Sophie came in wearing a bright yellow hazmat suit. She pointed to the showers. "You have been exposed to an antigen that is repelled by water. Do not move until further instructions. Do you understand?" Sophie said in a deep voice. "Yes." The guard said, scrubbing his body. Kaira walked with Sophie back to the room. "Sophie, I had it handled. He was scared." Kaira said. "I know. I just wanted to sell the whole bit." Sophie said, chuckling. Kaira went back into the room with Sophie.</p><p>"Why is this a rental?" Hardison asked. Kaira walked to the door frame. "Hardison, what is it?" Kaira asked. "I just checked Charlie's car. He has rental papers." Hardison said. "Did Robert?" Kaira asked. "No. His was a Marshaled issued car." Hardison explained. Kaira had a feeling. "Hardison, pop the trunk." Kaira said. Hardison did. "Eliot, Kaira. You remember when Eddie got a slap on the wrist because the judge said he provided substantial assistance to the government? Yeah, well, it looks like Eddie ratted out the Armenian mob. And Marshal Charlie - he ain't a fed. He's a hitman sent to kill Eddie unless duct tape and lye are standard issue for a deputy U.S Marshal." Hardison said. "Shit. Eliot, do you copy?" Kaira said. "Eliot, are you there? Can you read me?" Hardison questioned. Kaira started running. "I'm gonna send Eliot a text." Kaira quickly texted Eliot. No response. "I'll call him." Kaira said. She quickly dialed Eliot. Still didn't pick up. "Dammit! He's not picking up." Kaira said. "Kaira. Kaira, tell the person at the P.A system to have Dr. Ralph O. Kahn report to surgery." Hardison said. Kaira ran to the nurse's station. "Can I help you?" The nurse asked. "Yes. I need to announce something on the P.A. My fiancé's a cop and he needs a message sent to him." Kaira explained. The nurse let her. "Would Dr. Ralph O. Kahn please report to surgery? Dr. Ralph O. Khan, report to surgery." Kaira said, praying it worked. Kaira ran all over to try and find Eliot. Soon Hardison just started ranting. Nate and Parker set up Eddie's escape. There was static. "You think you can just ignore me like I don't have any feeling, like I never sat there, never listened to you talk all night." Hardison started ranting. "Hardison, have you been talking the whole time?" Eliot asked. "I wouldn't have had to if you didn't turn off your daggum comm! Oh, and your fiancé's pissed." Hardison said. "She is?" Eliot questioned nervously. "Eliot Spencer! When I call you, or text you, I kinda expect you to pick up the phone. Especially when we're in the middle of a job! How was I supposed to know you made it out alive unless you answer the damn phone! Or have your damn earbud in!" Kaira yelled. "I'm sorry. I was dealing with something." Eliot said. "Eliot, you could've put the damn comm back in when you were done." Kaira argued. "I'm sorry. I took care of the fake Marshal. Where's the real one?" Eliot said. "Oh, we are nowhere near finished with this conversation, Eliot." Kaira said. "Eliot, it, uh, looks like he's in the stairwell on his way to... oh, no. That ain't good, man." Hardison said. "He's on his way to the eighth floor." Kaira finished. That gave Nate and Parker the cue to have Parker fake an escape to get Eddie out.</p><p>Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison met on the main floor of the hospital. "Ralph O. Khan?" Eliot questioned. "Man, you see what ideas you come up with when you got no blood flow to the brain." Hardison said. "You're still bitching about the shirt?" Kaira quipped. Kaira noticed a familiar kid, as well as the cop cars, rolled up. "Oh, man. Come on." Hardison said, going to leave. Eliot stopped and went to the kid, telling Kaira to go with Hardison, hiding from the real cops. "Hey. How's the arm, my man?" Eliot asked the kid. "It's okay." The boy said, softly. "Yeah? My name's Eliot. What's your name?" Eliot asked the kid, gently. "Randy." The boy answered. "Randy. Oh, I like that name. I got an Uncle named Randy. There sure are a lot of cops around here, huh? You know, if you wanted, you could go up to one and tell them what happened to your arm. Hey, Randy. You don't have to be afraid anymore." Eliot said, comforting the kid. Kaira smiled. Eliot was always good with kids. "Dad knows these cops, you know? They come to my house. They'll drink beer. I mean... I can't." Randy said, nervous. Hardison grabbed Eliot and told him to leave. The trio walked away. "Parker, we're blown. Cops are everywhere." Nate said. Parker was silent. "They've got the hospital on lockdown. We're gonna have to hug the wall and wait for the camera to pass, okay? The exit's right over there." Parker explained. Just then groaning could be heard. "Parker?" Kaira said. They left to collect the money and meet with Eddie. They found him pulling a duffel bag out of the janitor's closet. Parker punched him as the rest came behind. Parker grabbed the bag and handed it to Nate. "A deal's a deal." Parker said as Eliot and Hardison got Eddie up. "So, what happened Eddie, huh? You got a little bored during your trial, you started looking around, and you thought, "What's the last place someone would look for stolen money in this town?"." Nate said. Just then Eddie started laughing. "What's so funny, jackass?" Kaira asked him, staring him down. "I'm just thinking about all the crimes you committed today. Burglary, assault, kidnapping. I'm going to prison for 18 months. But you - every one of you is looking at 25 to life!" Eddie started walking backward and breathing heavily. "I know your faces. I know all your faces. I am really good with faces." Eddie said. "Is that why you ratted out the Armenian mob?" Kaira questioned. Eddie was confused. "Yeah. An Armenian hitman was sent to kill you, Eddie. Charlie the Marshal? Yeah, my fiancé here took care of him. You should be thanking us for not just letting you die." Kaira said, threateningly. "You're gonna pay for what you did to me. Right now!" Eddie exclaimed, running away. "What an idiot." Kaira chuckled. Eliot nodded in Eddie's direction, but Nate and Kaira nodded no. They arrived at the door just as Eddie was being put in the back of the cop car.</p><p>Nate opened the door as the cop cars sped off. "So, here's everything you need to know about criminal law. Every crime has two elements - actus reus, the act itself - and mens rea - literally the guilty mind." Nate explained as they were coming down the stairs. "Wait. Now you're a doctor and a lawyer?" Hardison said. "Yes. Now, for the escape, the prisoner had to both break out of custody and show the intent to escape." Nate explained. "Wait, so if, let's say, a prisoner was taken hostage during a jailbreak, then he wouldn't be guilty of escape." Sophie said. "Yeah. He didn't have the intent to escape." Kaira realized. "That's a perfect example." Nate said, looking at Sophie. "Kiss ass." Hardison commented, getting a look from Sophie. "Which brings us back to our friend Eddie and how the brain reacts to fear. In the heat of the moment, Eddie didn't ask himself a simple question-" Nate said. "Who would doubt his guilty mind? Because you bypassed the logic part of the brain to the amygdala, Eddie was just so scared, that he literally didn't think." Kaira realized. "Yep." Nate said, looking at her. "So, are we gonna talk about how Eliot and Kaira got engaged and didn't tell us?" Hardison questioned. "Yeah. Sorry about that. That's on me. I told Eliot I wanted to just let everything that just happened soak in before we told you." Kaira explained. Nate had a look on his face. Kaira gasped. "You son of a bitch. You knew?" Kaira questioned. "Alright, yeah. I did. Eliot had come to me before and asked me for your hand, Kaira." Nate admitted. "What? Eliot." Kaira looked at Eliot. "What? The guy is supposed to ask her father for the daughter's hand and the mother's for permission." Eliot said. Sophie had the same look as Nate. "Soph. Seriously! Wow." Kaira said, amazed. They all hugged. "We mean it. Congrats you two. You deserve each other." Sophie said, choking up a bit. They let go and went to finish the job.</p><p>Eliot and Hardison went back to the hospital and talked the Robert. Eliot gave him a glowing report and Robert thanked him. Eliot suggested something for the Marshal to do for him. Eliot and Kaira then got back in the car and drove to the house of the kid. They watched as the Marshal took the kid in his car and drove off. "Eliot, how did you know the kid was being abused?" Kaira asked. "I saw the bruise on his cheek and the bruise on his neck." Eliot answered. "Really? How did you know to look for that?" Kaira asked. Eliot went silent, signaling he didn't want to talk to her. "I understand." Kaira said, sympathetically. Eliot looked at her. "Thank you." Eliot said. "For what, Cowboy?" Kaira asked. "For not pushing to get an answer out of me." Eliot said. "Of course. Look, I don't expect you to tell me everything about your past, even when we decide to get married." Kaira said. Eliot nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry I took my comm out during the mission and ignored my phone. I just wasn't in a good headspace at that moment." Eliot said, apologetically. "It's fine, Cowboy. I just need to have more faith that you'll be okay." Kaira said. Eliot and Kaira kissed. Kaira smiled as she let go. "So, you asked Nate for my hand." Kaira mentioned. "Well, you two are like father and daughter, so it was only right." Eliot said. Kaira smiled. "I love you, Eliot Spencer. You drive me crazy, but I love you." Kaira said. "I love you, the future Kaira Spencer." Eliot said. They kissed again, Eliot's hand gripping Kaira's hair and Kaira's gripping his shirt.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. The Fairy Godparents Job (2x4)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Team Leverage's latest mark? A con artist under house arrest for stealing money in a Ponzi scheme. In order to find the money he liquidated before his house arrest, the team has to use the marks lovable loser son, Widmark, in order to get the mark out of his house. With Nate blurring the lines of Kaira's rules, she reveals some information about her past.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot got called in to the office for another job. They waited for Nate to fill them in on the job. Kaira was reading a bridal magazine and Eliot was reading a magazine in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. They were sitting on the couch. Then Hardison came over. "Hey. This looks like an ordinary cell phone, right?" Kaira bookmarked her page and laid the magazine down on the coffee table. Eliot looked at him and took a sip of coffee. Hardison tapped a button and a high-pitched humming was heard. "It's not, man. It's a metal detector." Hardison went in front of the coffee table and leaned on it and then sat down on the arm of the couch adjacent to them. Kaira looked at Hardison as Eliot didn't even blink an eye. "See, it uses pulse-induction technology that sends out a current that generates a magnetic field, and then - are you even listening?" Hardison said. Kaira tried not to smile. "I was." Kaira said. "Yeah." Eliot said. "Well, what did I say?" Hardison asked Eliot. "You were explaining how you're still a virgin." Eliot said. Just then the door opened. "You can finish telling me about the phone later, Hardison." Kaira smiled at Hardison. Nate was telling Parker off for being unsympathetic to the client. The client was a woman who worked at a clinic that was shut down because they ran out of money. A little girl had an asthma attack and the father went to the clinic for help. If she hadn't been there, then the girl could've died. "I told you not to take her." Eliot said amused, setting down his coffee cup. Kaira got up and went to Parker who was in the kitchen. "Well, you were right. Where's Sophie?" Nate asked. Kaira grabbed Parker's arm. "Hey. You have to learn to at least act sympathetic if you want to do better at these jobs." Kaira scolded Parker. Parker huffed and looked at her friend. "How?" Parker asked. "I don't know." Kaira heard Eliot say. "Well, we're not waiting. Let's go. Let's start." Nate said, sighing. "Listen to when people tell you something, respond in a way that shows you care. And no laughing and making jokes. You tell them it's going to be okay. That's it." Kaira said. Parker nodded and she went to get cereal from the fridge. Kaira sat next to Eliot. He placed a hand on her thigh and Kaira smiled.</p><p>Hardison went up to the screen and got his presentation ready. "Daniel Fowler, 61, CEO of FTP Fidelity. Now, this is the largest private investment firm in the state, up until about three weeks ago. This whole thing was blown as a big Ponzi scheme, and I'm not talking crooked investments. I mean stone-cold con. There was never any fund, no trades, no real accounts. The clinic lost everything." Hardison explained. "And nearly cost a little girl her life." Kaira pointed out. "10 years, this guy wore all the right suits and filed all the right papers with the S.E.C. Nobody looked twice." Nate pointed out. "Well, as soon as the FBI figured out, they slapped a little house arrest on him, and they froze all his assets - I'm talking corporate accounts, personal accounts, real-estate holdings. Anything on planet Earth with this dude's name on it is on ice." Hardison explained. Parker sat on the other side of Eliot on the arm of the couch, eating her cereal from the green bowl. "The FBI's very thorough, huh?" Eliot questioned. "Extremely." Hardison said sarcastically. "So what's they miss?" Parker asked. "Oh. 20 million dollars. They moved it off the books right before the warrants came down." Hardison said. Kaira whisted. "How does the FBI ignore 20 million dollars missing out of an account of a con artist?" Kaira questioned. "Probably didn't bother to look." Eliot said. "Yeah, well, he knew the end was near, and he was getting ready to bolt. Tell me something - where was Fowler arrested?" Nate said. "Oh, in his apartment, packing for his "business trip" to the Maldives." Hardison said, with quotations around business trip. Kaira heard the door open again. This time it was Sophie entering. "You see, he'd need it light, portable, close at hand. That 20 million is in his apartment." Nate pointed out. "Yeah, but this guy's on house arrest, man. I mean, he's practically living with the FBI." Eliot said. "The problem is not getting into the apartment but getting them out." Sophie said, grabbing food from the counter, stressed about something. "Where were you?" Nate asked. "Oh, I-I was running an errand." Sophie said. "Weren't you with the boyfriend?" Parker asked. Kaira glared at Parker as Sophie slammed the tin on the island. Kaira made a note to talk to Sophie later. "So, what are the terms of his house arrest?" Sophie asked. "Fowler's confined to his six million dollar penthouse overlooking the Charles River." Hardison explained.</p><p>"You're telling me this guy ripped off how many people, caused who knows how many lives to be ruined, and instead of throwing him in jail, he's living in a damn penthouse." Kaira said, upset. "Yeah, that's a rough punishment, huh?" Eliot commented, agreeing with Kaira. "The whole place is fitted with 24/7 surveillance so the Feds can keep an eye on him. Now..." Hardison was saying as he pulled up the footage and Sophie went to go sit down. "We can too. I piggybacked on their wireless feed." Hardison explained. "Still, for us to get in and search the place, we've got to get rid of Fowler." Sophie said. "What's the exceptions for house arrest?" Kaira asked Nate. "There are three general exceptions for house arrest. There's personal safety, death of a relative, and family events." Nate explained. "Personal safety - we could burn the apartment down." Eliot said. Kaira looked at Eliot. "Or we could just set off a fire alarm and use the time to search the place while it's empty." Kaira suggested. Parker raised her hand. "Or... Death of a relative." Eliot said. Nate and Kaira ignored him and looked at the footage. There was a woman and a kid arguing with Fowler about a cell phone that went missing. "Uh, w-who's that?" Nate asked. "Oh, the kid. Kid's from her first marriage - Widmark." Hardison explained. "Oh, I'm sorry. Widmark?" Eliot questioned. "Rich people, man." Hardison said. "Geez..." Eliot commented. "Oh, can you, uh, punch in on that, please?" Nate asked. Fowler yelled at Widmark, saying he doesn't have any respect for him as he bought Widmark the phone. Then the mom left and left the kid in the room. Kaira flashed back to her own childhood. More specifically, how mean her dad got when he was drunk. He blamed Kaira for her sister's death, citing God knows what bullshit excuse he came up with that week. Kaira teared up and Eliot comforted her. He kissed her head and calmed down some. The team felt bad for the kid and Kaira. "Wow. Okay. What do we got on the kid?" Nate asked after a moment. "Widmark Fowler, age 10. No arrests, no outstanding warrants." Hardison explained, feeling bad. "Hardison..." Nate said. "He's a fifth-grade student at Dalton Academy, academically unexceptional, no extracurriculars. He's allergic to strawberries." Hardison said. Parker laughed again. "Strawberries..." Parker finished laughing, getting stared at by Kaira. "Judges give out day passes for family events. It's one of the three things, right? So Fowler is going to ask for one so he doesn't miss his kid's big debut." Nate said. "Okay, I'll bite. What's he debuting as?" Hardison asked, sitting down. "Nathan, how do we even know that Fowler will even show up? You saw the footage. Fowler does not like Widmark. And Widmark, he just wants his dad to see him." Kaira said, getting slightly emotional, causing alarm with the team. "How do you know?" Parker asked. "Because after my sister died, my dad acted the same way." Kaira said, trying not to think about it. The rest of the team went silent for the moment. "Yeah, I don't know. But we're gonna go steal his school and find out." Nate said, getting up. They got to work setting up their covers for the school.</p><p>The next day, they got ready. Hardison talked to the headmaster of the school, convincing him that the President of Botswana read his grad school thesis. Nate would be replacing him as Sophie was a teacher and Eliot as the gym teacher. Kaira was a guidance counselor. She watched as Nate walked down the stairs to the group of concerned parents, who were not happy. Nate had a book and a cane in his hand as he met with the parents. "Guten Tag." Nate said in a German accent. He sat his briefcase down. "My name is Dr. Melcher. And I presume you are all familiar with the pre-eminent literature on the children's education - my book, The Melcher Method." Nate was saying before a guy tried to grab the book. Nate pulled the book back. "In which case any further, uh, introduction would be redundant. I'd like to begin by speaking about the changes we're going to be making in the curriculum." Nate said. Kaira then came down and started shooshing everyone so Nate could talk. She was wearing a simple dress with very light makeup and her hair done neatly in a braid and a silver ring necklace. "Mark Sanford. I'm head of the concerned parents association." Mark said. "That must be very exciting for you." Nate said sarcastically. "Yes, I'm sure. Uh, why do we need any changes at all? I mean, this is the best private school in Boston." Mark said, causing the crowd to yell. The administrator calmed everyone down. "The Melcher Method involves the education of the whole child - mind, and body. Ja, when a child fails, is it just the brain that fails? Nein. No, the body contains the failing brain, and both are cast into a cruel world of darkness and despair, and even worse - public school." Nate said. The crowd started getting worked up again. "Dante's inferno of Mediocrity. Which is why I bring with me three of my most valued associates. Uh, we have mind, uh, and body." Nate said as Sophie and Eliot walked down the stairs. Sophie was in a simple grey dress with thin flowers on it, and Eliot had on a black t-shirt with a red and white windbreaker jacket and track pants and his hair up. "Miss Donovan will hone your children's minds, and Mr. Brewer, he will craft your children's bodies into the proper mind-vessels through exercise and nutrition. And his lovely fiancé, Dr. Reynolds, would you explain your role?" Nate turned to each person, finally to Kaira.</p><p>"Yes, Doctor Melcher. See, it is important to me that your children understand their brains. This is a very fragile time period for them. A lot of changes are happening. And kids don't always understand why they're thinking the way they are, so they need someone to talk to besides their parents." Kaira said in a slight British accent. This causes another roar in the crowd. "Why does that matter? Mental illness isn't real anyway." Kaira heard a female voice say. Kaira breathed to not get angry. "Okay, Karen. See a lot of the problems with today's kids is that they have a lot of pressure to conform to society's standards of success. And their parents. My job will be to coach your kids into having healthy mental health practices and to eliminate the taboo of mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety, which are some of the most common mental illnesses in children. They need to be able to speak to someone who understands what they are going through and help them. Not just tell them to deal with it." Kaira explained. Kaira could sense the trio beside her tensing, hoping she didn't cause a fight. "What makes you qualified to talk about mental illness?" Mark asked. "Easy. I had a diagnosis of depression and anxiety after losing a loved one at a young age. No older than your own children. See, I never had an outlet to talk to. At least, not a healthy one. I had to take myself out of that environment, but I got help. And now, I am better. I learned to cope. Back then, I didn't have the education I have now. So, I want to share what I learned. And talk about my experiences." Kaira explained. Eliot put his hands on her neck, massaging her neck to keep her calm. "If our child comes to you, can we ask what you talked about?" A male asked. "No. As I have a doctorate degree in psychology and childhood development, what we talk about falls under doctor-patient confidentiality. I aim to promote a safe space where kids can let out any anger, anxieties, or general nervousness." Kaira said, showing her distaste with the question. "And any questions?" Nate asked as Melcher. There was some yelling as Kaira groaned. They all tried their best to answer the questions.</p><p>They heard Hardison and Parker on comms getting an apartment that's near Fowler's apartment. They went into Nate's office, with Eliot shutting the door behind them. "Hardison and Parker are all set. Now, all we got to do is give Widmark a triumph worthy of a day pass." Nate said in his normal voice. "A triumph? In what? I mean, in five years, this kid hasn't joined a club, he hasn't played a sport." Sophie said. "I've got to be honest with you. I don't know how I feel about using a kid to get to a mark." Eliot said. Kaira spoke up. "I agree. I've been silent because I didn't want to start anything, but you know my rules, Nathan." Kaira said. "I know. Don't use a kid against a mark, dead or alive." Nate said. "Yeah. I mean, I want to stick to my rules, but at the same time, I feel like I can take two birds with one stone. I think we can help two victims of Fowlers. The client, and Widmark." Kaira said, honest. "We're not using him. I mean, every kid is good at something, you know? We Just got to draw Widmark out, give him his moment to shine." Nate said. "So we'd be like his Fairy Godparents." Sophie said. "Exactly, and, I mean, come on, look at this - cushy private school. No gunrunners, mob bosses, Interpol. This - this is a breeze. We've got one week before the clinic closes for good. Athletics, academics. Let's go get, uh, Widmark the win, all right?" Nate said. "Yeah." Kaira said. They went to leave so Kaira could introduce everyone. "Hey, Kaira, can you stay a moment?" Nate asked. "Sure boss." Kaira said. Sophie and Eliot left as Kaira sat on a desk. Nate turned off his comm, signaling Kaira to do the same. "Is the reason you wanted to be a guidance counselor for this job because of your own past?" Nate asked. "Yeah. I mean, these kids, I'm hoping that I can help them to be better. Look at this place, Nathan. You said it yourself, cushy private school. This is a breeding ground for all kinds of trauma and mental illnesses brought on by bullies, toxic parents, and a messed up society." Kaira explained. "I know. Was school bad for you?" Nate asked. "Yeah. Worse after my sister died. People calling me a loser and making fun of me for being silent. I didn't know how to defend myself or speak up. I want these kids to grow up knowing that the way I was in school, where it was better to stay silent, is bad. I learned to speak up eventually. I went to grief counselors after Kasey's death and my mom and dad's deaths, but they didn't help me. I was just told that I had to accept what happened and move on. I didn't move on for awhile. Not until the army. And Eliot." Kaira explained. "I'm sorry your schooling went that way." Nate said sympathetically. "It's okay. It made me who I am today." Kaira smiled. "Go." Nate said. Kaira left and did the introductions.</p><p>First, she went to Eliot's gym class, where she introduced them. "Hello, children. My name's Doctor Reynolds, though you can call me Doc for short." Kaira gave a smile. "This is your gym teacher. Now, I expect your children to give Coach Brewer the respect you would want for yourselves and your cooperation. Understood?" Kaira looked at the kids. "Yes, Doc." The kids said. "Good. Have fun." Kaira smiled again. "Eliot, if any kids give you any problems, send them to me." Kaira whispered to Eliot's ear. He nodded and she left. She went to Sophie's class after hearing Eliot's class kinda go badly to discuss the expectations. "Hello again, children." Kaira smiled. "Now, I want you to give Miss Donovan the respect and cooperation she will give you. Understood?" Kaira smiled. "Yes, Doc." The kids said. "Good. Now, if you want someone to talk to, you can come to my office. Just let whoever is in charge of the class your in know you're leaving, and my door is open." Kaira smiled again. She left, whispering the same thing to Sophie. She tried to get Widmark to win the spelling bee, and he did, but Sophie let him off with easy words. The bell rang again and Kaira waited in her office. She saw Widmark come in. "Hello, Widmark, right?" Kaira smiled at him. "Yes, ma'am." Widmark said. "So polite. You can just call me Doc." Kaira said. "Okay." Widmark said, chuckling a bit. "What seems to be the problem, Widmark?" Kaira asked him. "You won't tell anyone what I say in here, right?" Widmark asked. Kaira moved a piece of hair behind her ear, turning off her comm. "Of course. Doctor, patient confidentiality." Kaira said. "What does that mean?" Widmark asked. "It means by law, I can't tell your parents or anyone else what we talk about. This room is soundproof, so you're free to speak your mind." Kaira said. "It was Miss Donovan that suggested I come down." Widmark said. "I understand. What happened that would have her suggest for you to come here?" Kaira asked. "I told her something." Widmark said, nervous. "Hey, you don't have to be nervous here. As you heard me say already, I aim to provide a safe space. What you say in here, never leaves the room." Kaira said.</p><p>"We did this spelling bee in class, and she gave me the easy words. I tried, but I didn't do good. No matter what I want to happen, it never happens. I just want someone to like me." Widmark said, sad. "I understand. You know, it is very common for kids to feel as you do. When I was your age, I wasn't as lucky to be in a private school. I went to a public school. I found myself trying to prove to anyone around me that I could do anything. My school work suffered because I suffered. The only thoughts in my head were not, "Remember this for the test." Instead, "How can I change to get people to like me?" That caused some anxiety for me." Kaira said, honest and softly. "How does that relate to me?" Widmark asked. "Because I understand the pressures you're facing. Parents telling you to do better, society telling you how to be successful. It's a lot. And about you wanting something to happen? It's not that you aren't trying hard enough, it's that you haven't found the thing you love. It's hard to try something you don't like. Believe me, I know." Kaira said, softly. "Let me guess, you've been there?" Widmark asked. "Yes. Sports, academics, theater, you name it. I did found my love though. Theater and mixed martial arts." Kaira answered. "Theater and mixed martial arts?" Widmark questioned. "You'd be surprised. Theater I loved because I could play a character, and just for those few moments, I'm not Miss Reynolds. I'm the character I was playing. And mixed martial arts allowed me to gain some control over my environment." Kaira said. "Isn't mixed martial arts about beating up someone?" Widmark asked. "No. It's about gaining control over your opponent. Controlling your environment. Controlling what's in here." Kaira pointed to her head. "Because that is what'll get you in the most trouble." Kaira told Widmark. "How did you do it?" Widmark asked. "Do what?" Kaira questioned. "Find the balance." Widmark asked. "A lot of practice and trial and error. Honey, it's okay if it takes a while to find your balance. I never said any of this was easy." Kaira answered softly. "Is it normal to feel this way?" Widmark asked. "Yes. You're at an age where not only are things changing biologically but chemically as well." Kaira answered.</p><p>Widmark was confused. "Sorry. See, what makes your brain work are chemicals your body makes. They are activated by nerves, which tells your body what to do. In people who experience trauma or have a mental illness, those chemicals in the brain get changed. That change affects your whole body. It's why when you get nervous, your heart beats faster and you sweat. Right now, your brain in under construction, and the cement that holds the brain together is still settling. Which means, it can move around and change. The trick is learning how to cope with the changes. That's the hard part." Kaira answered. "How is it hard?" Widmark asked. "It's hard to unlearn bad habits. For me, it was always shaking my arms when I got nervous." Kaira said. "Why is that bad?" Widmark asked. "Well, sometimes my arms would hurt after. And it was embarrassing for everyone around me and to myself. So I found other coping methods, like breathing in and out. Or having a necklace to fidget with instead." Kaira answered, showing Widmark the ring necklace she had on. Widmark stood up. "Thank you, Doc Reynolds." Widmark said. "So polite. You're welcome, sweetie. Come by anytime you need a person to talk to." Kaira said. She opened the door to let Widmark out and get to his next class. Kaira sat down at her desk and turned her comm back on. Kaira heard that Parker and Hardison stumble through an interaction with Agents McSweeten and Agent Tagert from the Moscone case. They met back up at the office later and Parker and Hardison reported the incident.</p><p>Kaira, Eliot, and Sophie were leaning on the counter and fridge. "All right, you two - you couldn't rig a gym class or a spelling bee?" Nate questioned upset, looking at Eliot and Sophie. "And you two - you run into the only FBI agents on the planet that recognize you?" Nate questioned, looking at Parker and Hardison at the table. "I got to be honest with you. I think we broke the kid even more." Eliot said. "We are the worst fairy godparents in the world." Sophie said. "I think I actually made some progress with Widmark. He's open at least." Kaira reported, trying to lighten the mood. "Listen, we still got to get Fowler out of the apartment so we can get in." Nate said. "Yeah, except now when he leaves, there will be someone waiting to kill him." Parker said. "What?" Kaira questioned. "One of his victims wants payback. More than he wants to be paid... back." Hardison said. "One of you two can identify the gunman, right?" Eliot asked. "Oh, yeah, sure. He stopped and let me take a picture of him as I was chasing him." Hardison said. "Hey, you know what, man? I've been around little kids all day. I don't need to come home and do all this crap." Eliot argued. Kaira groaned as she tried to get Eliot to calm down. "Hey, man, with all that? I've been in this pink shirt and these tight plaid pants, these old Webster loafers, this girl walking on my back. I don't need this, man." Hardison argued back as Kaira and Eliot looked at a picture Parker was drawing. Kaira was impressed. "Is this him?" Kaira asked. Parker confirmed it. "See?" Eliot said, tossing the notepad on the table. "Wow. I didn't know you could do that." Hardison said. "I thought everybody could do that." Parker said. "Well actually, Parker's right. When you get scared, the brain takes a snapshot of everything to analyze for dangers." Kaira said. The team looked at her weird. "What? I'm playing a guidance counselor, I had to do some research." Kaira quipped. "Okay. All right, all right. We'll keep an eye on him. In the meantime, if they think you're real FBI, be real FBI. I mean, use it to case the apartment." Nate ordered. "All right, so I'm out of this, and I'm on FBI detail with Parker and Hardison then." Eliot said. "No, babe. You have to be Coach Brewer." Kaira told Eliot. "There's an armed gunman out there. You want me in the gym with kids named Skylar and Indigo?" Eliot questioned, not happy. "Where did Coach Brewer go? I mean, we ought to be..." Nate was saying before Sophie shushed him. Sophie got excited as Kaira tuned into the footage on the screen, which showed Widmark singing. "The play is the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of a king." Sophie said. Kaira smiled. Parker was horrified at the idea of what Sophie was thinking. "Sophie how long would it take you to stage a musical?" Nate asked. "Six weeks." Sophie said. "You have two days." Nate said.</p><p>They went home and Kaira was drained. She was in bed and laying down when Eliot came out of the bathroom. "Hey, Princess, you okay?" Eliot asked, sitting on the bed, rubbing Kaira's back. "Yeah. I'm drained." Kaira said, tired. "It's your empath thing, ain't it?" Eliot questioned. "Yeah. Kids take a lot of energy. Especially those kids. I think I'm actually making progress with these kids. I mean, I got Widmark to be open with me, and I think the other kids are starting to warm up to me. It's a shame I can't be around to see these kids actually use what I tell them." Kaira said, yawning. "How do you know what to tell them?" Eliot asked. "I use personal experience as the reason to my knowledge." Kaira answered. "Huh. I'm just having trouble getting these kids to listen to me and behave. They laughed at Widmark when he failed the fencing lesson." Eliot said. "I feel bad for the kid. I mean, he is bullied, his dad hates him, his mom babies him, he can't figure out himself. It's no wonder kids these days have problems." Kaira said. Eliot kept rubbing her back as she fell asleep. The next day, Kaira went to the school and sat at her office. The next day was the musical.</p><p>A lot of kids went up to her with their nervousness about the Science-sical that Sophie was getting set up. She was getting some stuff put away when Nate called her up to his office, saying he needed help with the parents who were upset with Sophie picking Widmark for the finale. "Out of every kid in the entire school, she picks him for the showcase performance? D-d-does she even know who he is?" Mark asked. "A student..." Sophie was saying before Mark cut her off. "Whose father ripped off everyone in this school. I'm a money manager. I put millions of my clients' accounts with him. We lost everything, and there isn't a parent in this school who doesn't have the same story." Mark said. "Dr. Melcher, do you mind?" Kaira asked Nate as Doctor Reynolds. Nate shook his head no. "Dr. Melcher doesn't believe in punishing the sons for the sins of the father. Neither do I. Widmark is a wonderful boy. Do you know what he's feeling? I would bet money that you heartless bastards are the reason Widmark doesn't like himself. He doesn't want to be known as Mark Fowler's son, the Grinch who stole Christmas, but as Widmark, a remarkable kid who just had a crappy hand dealt to him. He can't control that. He just wants to be seen. There isn't a single kid who doesn't have the same wants. Now, Miss Donovan and I are confident that Widmark's role in the Science-sical is based on merit. Which I agree with. You may leave." Kaira said, kinda threateningly. The parents left out the door and Nate shut the door. "Could you just please try to maybe not make this so difficult you two?" Nate asked in his normal voice. Sophie was fidgeting. "I can't take you seriously with that dead cat on your head." Sophie said. Nate said down and sighed. "Eliot had trouble adjusting, all right? But he found a way to make his style work in this setting, so..." Nate said as Kaira remembered Eliot standing in the gym, lining the kids up, having them punch the air, then telling them to come after him, laughing as she watched the kids knock Eliot down. "Look, it's the best I could do under such short notice. The props are made, the kids have memorized their presentations. I'm just setting it to a bit of music." Sophie said. "Listen, I mean, let's not forget why we're here. Let's not lose focus. I mean, the object is to get Fowler out of the apartment, not -" Nate said before Sophie cut him off. "What? Not - not Widmark, right, yeah, I get it. He's just the bait." Sophie said. "Come on, that's not fair." Nate defended himself. "Nathan, what's not fair is the way people see him. His father thinks he's a loser. His mom still thinks he's a baby. Everyone at this school sees him as the one whose dad stole Christmas." Kaira said, getting upset. "We just want people to see him for he really is. He deserves that. Everybody does." Sophie said, leaving.</p><p>Kaira sat in her spot. "Nathan, I'm sorry I went off like that. I just - when I look at Widmark, I see me at his age. I was bullied and not happy. My dad hated me because he blamed me for Kasey's death. My mom just wanted to protect me. I mean, she did. I just want to make sure at least one more kid can be happy and not end up like me." Kaira admitted. "What? A good girl who looks out for the people she loves? Who's engaged to someone who makes her happy? Who wouldn't want that?" Nate smiled at her. Kaira chuckled. "You mean a hot mess who is a thief?" Kaira questioned. "That's not what we see." Nate said. Kaira hugged him. Nate hugged Kaira back. "Thank you, Nathan." Kaira whispered. "Anytime, kiddo." Nate smiled. Kaira let go. "Uh, have you and Eliot finished planning your wedding yet?" Nate asked. "No. We want to hold off a bit. Enjoy being engaged, you know?" Kaira said. "Yeah." Nate said, smiling. Kaira looked at Nate. "Hey Nate, I've been thinking. When me and Eliot get married, I would like you and Sophie to walk me down the aisle." Kaira said, grinning in anticipation. Nate smiled and started laughing. "I would be honored." Nate said, hugging Kaira. Kaira laughed and wiped a tear that formed. "Thank you, Nathan. You have no idea how much that means to me." Kaira said. Nate smiled. "We should probably help with the set up." Kaira said. Nate agreed and they left. Parker and Hardison planned to go to the apartment and case it. Kaira was helping set up and help Eliot wrangle the kids as Widmark got nervous and started singing off note. Kaira shushed the kids who were laughing.</p><p>She went up to Widmark. "Hey. You know how I told you I did theater?" Kaira whispered to Widmark. "Yeah." Widmark said, nervous. "Breathe in." Kaira said, breathing in with Widmark. "And exhale." Kaira exhaled with Widmark. "Good. Again." Kaira said. They repeated the cycle again until Widmark calmed down some. "Another tip. Jump up and down to get the adrenaline pumping. You won't get scared." Kaira said. "Why?" Widmark asked. "Because when you're nervous, your body is telling your brain to either run or fight. You have to get the adrenaline pumping, which tells your brain to fight, making you less nervous, and more focused. It's your body's natural defense system. You'll do amazing Widmark. I just know it." Kaira smiled at him. "I meant to ask you yesterday, but what does your necklace mean?" Widmark asked. Kaira held the antique silver ring that was attached to a thin piece of dark leather. "Oh, this? I was traveling and it was given to me by an old friend. The words on the outside, "Sic Parvis Magna", is Latin for, "Greatness from small beginnings." It was a quote used by a famous pirate named Sir Francis Drake. On the inside are coordinates and a date in Latin. Those aren't important. This necklace reminds me that we can all be great, no matter where we start. I want you to keep it for the show. You can play with it to calm you down." Kaira took the necklace off and handed it to Widmark. "I can't accept this. You need it more than I do." Widmark said. Kaira smiled. "You sure? It may help with your nervousness." Kaira said. "Thank you, Doc Reynolds, but you can keep it. I'll find my own ways." Widmark said. Kaira smiled and gave him a hug. She left to finish helping set it. Hardison ended up having Parker go with the FBI agents and Hardison was staying behind to search. Hardison asked Parker to walk him through the break-in. "Hardison, I'm gonna be available too, remember? I am a thief, you know." Kaira said. "Good point." Hardison said. "Uh, Sophie, we good to go?" Nate asked after a bit of preparation. "Uh, uh. No, everything's gonna be fine as soon as I... find Widmark." Sophie said. Kaira saw her leave. "Hardison, what's going on? What's your status?" Nate asked. "I just looped the FBI video feed, so nobody will see me in the apartment, assuming I get in the apartment." Hardison said. Eliot and Kaira watched the crowd as Nate greeted everybody.</p><p>"All right, our man has arrived." Nate said. "Copy that, boss." Kaira acknowledged. "The curtain goes up in five minutes, one way or another. Don't wait for Sophie." Nate said. Kaira heard Sophie calling out to Widmark on the comm. "You sure you can handle this?" Parker asked Hardison. "Oh, yeah. What's the worst that can happen?" Parker asked. "Well, you could tangle the lines." Parker said, just as McSweeten was heard on comms and gave Parker a smoothie. Parker played off what she was saying. Just then Hardison was heard moaning and screaming. "I'm good. I'm good." Hardison reported. "Good." Kaira said. "Widmark, y-y-you can't let them win. Y-you can't show them that they're getting to you." Sophie said. "Sophie, no. No." Nate said. "What?" Sophie questioned. "J-just talk to him. Don't tell him what to do or who to be. Just talk." Nate told Sophie. Sophie groaned. "Soph, want me to talk to him?" Kaira whispered. "No." Sophie whispered. "Widmark, I'm sorry." Sophie said. "For what?" Widmark asked. "For trying to con you into being brave, and... that's what I do. I'm a bloody con artist. Look, I'm not very good at being honest, not even with my friends." Sophie said. It was a moment of silence. "Do you have a lot of friends?" Widmark asked. "No. No, I-I never used to have any. But, um, now, yes, I-I do - a few." Sophie said. "I used to have friends. They don't talk to me anymore because of what my stepdad did." Widmark said, sad. "That's got nothing to do with you. You know that, don't you?" Sophie said. "Then why did they make fun of me?" Widmark asked. "Cause when they look at you, they see him. They're not really seeing you for who you really are." Sophie said. Just then Hardison came on comms. "How much time do I have left, Kaira?" Hardison asked. "30 seconds, Hardison." Kaira answered as Parker tried to talk to McSweeten. "You have to override and cut the output blue wire." Kaira said. "Did you know I was an actress?" Sophie said. "No." Widmark said. "Mm-mm." Sophie breathed. "Are you good?" Widmark asked. "Well, others don't seem to think so." Sophie said. "Maybe they just can't see you for who you are." Widmark said. Kaira smiled as Sophie chuckled. If only he knew. "Do you know what they say about acting? They say it's about telling the truth, about - about sharing a little part of yourself that people don't normally see. But if you don't - if you don't really know yourself, then they think you're lying. And... I think that's my problem. I've been lying for so long, that, um, I don't even know what the truth is anymore." Sophie admitted, softly. Kaira sensed the emotion. She just wanted to give Sophie a hug. "I don't want to lie to anybody." Widmark said. "No. No, you don't have to, Widmark. What you need to do is, you just have to go out there and be Widmark. Just tell the truth. Be - be who you really are. If you do that, then I promise you, people will believe in you." Sophie said. Kaira smiled. Sophie told the truth. It was kinda ironic. The grifter telling the truth.</p><p>"Hardison, what is taking you so long?" Kaira whispered into the comm. "E-excuse me for interrupting prom night with my annoying felony burglary. She's ungrateful - just ungrateful. Aha!" Hardison said. "Come to papa." Hardison said. Kaira got anxious. "What is it, Hardison?" Kaira asked. Sophie went up behind Eliot and Kaira. "Widmark okay?" Eliot asked. "Guess we're about to find out." Sophie said. Just then Hardison started laughing. "Yeah! Hacking, rappelling - whatever, put me in a dress. I can do all y'all's jobs." Hardison said, excited. "No way in Hell am ever seeing you in a dress, Hardison. And you can't fight worth a damn." Kaira quipped. Hardison scoffed. "It's empty." Hardison reported. "What?" Kaira questioned. "What do you mean it's empty?" Nate asked. "I mean it's empty, like somebody cleaned it out." Hardison reported. Then Eliot started staring up ahead of them. Kaira looked the same way and found the shooter Parker described. "I hate to tell you this, but that ain't our biggest problem right now." Eliot said. "We got company." Kaira reported. "Yeah, but how'd he know Fowler was gonna be here? Only ones that knew were us and the FBI." Eliot said. "And Fowler." Kaira added. "Maybe we were wrong. Maybe Fowler isn't the target." Nate said. "What? Then who?" Kaira questioned. Kaira thought a minute. She couldn't see Fowler to read him. "Shit. The lights are bright from here. I can't tell where Fowler is." Kaira said. "His FBI handlers - Fowler's arranged to have them killed. He's about to run." Nate reported. "No, there's no way he could arrange that, man. He's under house arrest - no phone calls, no internet. They're even reading his email. How could he arrange a hitman?" Hardison asked. "Let's ask him." Eliot said. Kaira saw the hitman coming down the steps. Kaira was also thinking. She remembered the argument between Fowler and Widmark. "Hardison, you found Widmark's phone, didn't you?" Kaira asked. "How? I'm not even gonna ask." Hardison said. "What?" Nate questioned. "The Feds didn't take Widmark's phone, just Fowlers. That's how he arranged the hit man. He took all his cash he had on him. That's why the case was empty." Kaira said. "I think I know where to look." Nate said. "Wait, didn't you search Fowler before he left?" Parker asked McSweeten. "Of course. Nothing on him except for that camera and some tapes." McSweeten said. "Yeah, well, there's something in that bag. Or on those tapes." Nate said. "Sophie, me, Eliot, Hardison, and Parker are out of position to swipe the bag." Kaira reported. Sophie introduced the next act. "Has anyone seen Widmark?" Sophie asked. "Sophie, the job's over. What happens from here on is not our concern." Nate said. "No way." Kaira said, going to search for Widmark. "We have our priorities." Nate said. "The clinic isn't the only victim here, Nate. I-I didn't just prop up this boy just to see him fail. No way. I'm not letting that happen." Sophie said. Eliot got into position to take on the hitman as Kaira joined him. "Yo, what's up?" Eliot said, the hitman drew a gun, but Eliot quickly disarmed it as Kaira kicked him. The hitman got back up and punched Eliot, but he blocked it. Kaira grabbed his head and banged it on a table nearby. Eliot then flipped him in to another room.</p><p>"Uh, Nate... this phone has sent a bunch of text messages in the last 48 hours to some guy named Skylar." Hardison reported. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Skylar's a kid at the school." Nate reported. "Why would Fowler be texting a middle-schooler?" Hardison asked. "He wasn't texting Skylar. He was texting Skylar's dad. Mark Sanford's an accomplice. He set up the gunman. He just traded bags with Fowler." Nate reported. "No, man, why would Sanford help Fowler? Isn't he one of the guys who invested in him?" Hardison asked. It went silent as Kaira heard Widmark and Sophie get ready for his performance. Eliot and Kaira both kicked the hitman in the chest, sending him flying. Eliot then grabbed him and threw him against the wall as Kaira kneed him in the stomach. Eliot went to punch him, but the hitman blocked it and caught Eliot in the stomach. He punched Eliot and elbowed him in the face. Kaira then got under the hitman and flipped him on the table, yelling. The table broke. Kaira punched the hitman in the face, but then the hitman flipped her, landing on her back. Kaira groaned as Eliot punched him. The hitman flipped him over, sending him to the wall, groaning. Kaira and Eliot and the hitman got up and exchanged many punches. Sophie shushed them as Widmark was singing on stage. Kaira got the hitman out of Sophie's sight, but she was still grunting, so Sophie yelled at them to be quiet. The temporary lack of focus caused the hitman to tackle both Kaira and Eliot, landing on the floor. Eliot clocked him in the face and got up. The hitman went down. Kaira grabbed his shirt and kept jabbing him in the face until he was knocked out. Kaira and Eliot checked each other over and then dragged him to a closet and locked the door. Then Kaira and Eliot heard the crowd cheer as Widmark had finished performing. "Uh, Hardison, are you at your computer? I need you to check a name for me." Nate asked. "Go ahead." Hardison said. "Doug Fineman." Nate said before Sophie handed out awards, first place being Fowler. "Sanford is providing Fowler with a new identity and a new life waiting for him in...Bogotá." Nate said. Kaira and Eliot waited for Mark to show up backstage. Eliot dragged him in.</p><p>"Oh, Coach Bewer! Doctor Reynolds!" Mark exclaimed as Eliot threw him against a beam. Kaira grabbed the bag he was holding. "Thank you." Kaira quipped. She sat the bag on the table and grabbed a tape out of the bag. She put it in the music control box and hit play. "I'm just saying you can't make the returns too consistent. 10 percent growth every year, no matter what the market does? The S.E.C is going to ask questions." Mark said in the recording. "Let me worry about the S.E.C Mark." Fowler said in the recording. "But we have to be careful." Mark said in the recording. "My job is to buy off the regulators. Your job is to bring in new money. Now, this whole thing goes off the rails when you stop doing your job." Fowler said. Mark freaked out and then tried to attack Kaira, but McSweeten grabbed him and put the cuffs on him as Parker showed up behind as Taggert arrested Fowler. "Now that is no way to treat a lady." McSweeten said as Kaira followed Eliot out. "You okay, Cowboy?" Kaira asked. "Yeah. Nothing I can't handle. You?" Eliot turned to Kaira. "I'm fine. I was just gonna elbow Mark if McSweetheart didn't show up." Kaira chuckled. Eliot kissed Kaira. Just then they heard a gasp and looked at the source. It was a female student. "What are you looking at?" Eliot asked her. The poor girl looked horrified as she walked away. Kaira laughed. "You got to watch that look, Cowboy." Kaira teased. "Really? Why? Cause you like it?" Eliot teased. "Oh shut up. We're in school." Kaira quipped, kissing Eliot again. They walked out and ushered the parents and students out. Kaira and Sophie got a moment alone at the door as Nate and Hardison worked to do the cleanup. "Sophie, I have a favor to ask of you." Kaira said, nervous. "What is it, Kaira?" Sophie asked. "So, as you know, me and Eliot are planning our wedding. I would like you and Nathan to walk me down the aisle." Kaira said. Sophie and Kaira started grinning as Sophie shook her head yes. "Of course, my dear." Sophie said. Kaira saw Nate and Eliot walk up. She hugged Eliot and they walked hand in hand back to the car. "So, Eliot, are you okay with both Sophie and Nathan walking me down the aisle when we get married?" Kaira asked Eliot. Nate turned. "That sounds like an amazing idea, Princess." Eliot smiled and pecked her cheek. Nate and Sophie both smiled at the couple as they made their way to the cars. Kaira was happy. The man she viewed as a father and mentor was walking her down the aisle and the woman she viewed as a mother and mentor was also walking her down the aisle to marry the love of her life. The man she had always pictured getting married to. The next day, Nate and Sophie gave a check to the clinic. Eliot and Kaira looked at the pages of things in front of them. They talked all night about wedding plans. Kaira was so happy. So was Eliot. They were content for once in their lives.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. The Three Days of the Hunter Job (2x5)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team dives into the world of government conspiracies in order to take down a heartless news reporter who targets innocent people, including the teams client, whose father was involved in a bus accident that killed kids. The twist: Sophie is taking on the role of mastermind after a breakup, leaving Parker to fill in her spot.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot were looking over wedding plans when Nate called them. Their client was a woman whose father tried to kill himself after a news reporter got a hold of him, placing the blame of a bus crash that killed kids on him. Nate and Sophie had met the client already as Kaira and Eliot waited on the couch, looking at the list of ideas they had for their wedding. Nate and Sophie came into the apartment. Hardison went to the fridge to grab his orange soda. "Now we've stolen a lot of odd things before, but how to we steal back a man's reputation?" Hardison asked as he walked to the couch. "We get the network to issue a complete apology and utterly disavow Monica Hunter's story." Sophie said the plan. The team looked confused. "What?" Sophie questioned. "Yeah, Sophie's gonna be doing this one." Nate informed the team. "What?" Eliot questioned. "Yeah." Nate confirmed, not really liking this. "Yeah. I'm gonna be Nate on this one, only, you know, nicer." Sophie said. "But if you're gonna be Nate, then who's gonna be you?" Parker asked. "You." Sophie said to Parker. "Me?" Parker questioned. "I could be Sophie for this one." Kaira said. "I-I don't mean to obsess about the last time Sophie ran a con, but, I'm sorry, where we had to blow up the offices." Eliot said as Sophie scoffed. "Really? Because I don't remember that." Sophie said. "I do." Hardison said. "You know, after I watched the offices blow up, I cried when I had to burn me and Eliot's identities. That was not pleasant at all." Kaira cut in, not happy. "Um, Hardison, just run it." Sophie ordered, ignoring Kaira. "If you don't mind, I thought I would still do the "Hardison, run it" thing. Hardison, run it." Nate said. This was gonna be a long job. Sophie sighed as Hardison started his briefing. "Monica Hunter's "Hunt for the Truth" has been the top show in her time slot for the last eight years. She calls it an exposé show. Each episode includes three elements - incriminating documents, embarrassing footage of the subject, and an expert to make it legit. Now she mixes this all into one hatchet job on some poor citizen, turning them into the boogeyman - doesn't matter whether or not they're guilty. If the victim tries to sue, the network just buries them in lawyers." Hardison explained. "Yeah, she demonizes perfectly innocent people for ratings and then stands behind the network, thinking they're gonna protect her. We're gonna sever that relationship." Sophie went into the plan. "How?" Parker asked. "By getting her on-air with a fake story that destroys her reputation." Kaira explained.</p><p>Sophie looked at her. "It's like when you find a crooked cop, you know? A-all his cases go right out the window." Eliot pointed out. "Exactly." Sophie said, standing up. "And then, to protect themselves, they issue an apology to Mr. Pennington, and then they throw Monica Hunter into the jaws of the very media machine that she bent her own malicious will!" Sophie said, dramatically. "Wow. I got to say, Sophie's briefings are much more dramatic." Parker said. Kaira, Hardison, and Eliot nodded their heads in agreement. "And poetic." Eliot said. "You see, what we need to do, though - what we need is - we got to sell her a fake news story that she - she can't refuse. That's what we got to do, because what does she have? She has fame. She has money. What does she need?" Nate said, going up to the screen next to Sophie. Sophie cleared her throat. "She - sorry." Nate realized, sitting back down next to Eliot and Kaira. They looked at each other and leaned back, with Kaira leaned into Eliot. "What does she have? She has fame. She has money. What does she need?" Sophie repeated as Kaira smiled in amusement. Hardison had a light bulb moment. "Respect. Yeah, she's a joke among serious journalists. Look, here's emails from her agent and internal memos from the network. See, every time her contract's up, she tries to go and get a job on a serious news show, but she gets laughed out of the room every time." Hardison explained. "Yeah, well, we can't sell her respect." Nate observed. "But we can sell her a story that commands respect - a story that she's gonna chase to get the respect she craves. Hmm? Pack your bags, everyone. We're going to D.C to make news." Sophie said. It was silent before Nate spoke. "That's when you want to..." Nate suggested, motioning that's when she leaves. "I'm gonna do that bit again." Sophie said, sniffing, resetting herself. "Pack your bags, everyone. We're going to D.C to make news." Sophie said, walking to a door. Nate cleared his throat. "That's the closet, ain't it?" Kaira questioned amused. "Yep." Nate said. They made a plan and arrived in D.C the next day.</p><p>Parker was gonna play another reporter who was gonna get caught stealing Monica's Pentagon press pass, Hardison a crazy conspiracy theorist, Eliot and Kaira were gonna be Parker's shadows, and Nate a three-star General. Parker had gone into the studio offices and stole the press pass as Kaira, Hardison, and Eliot got the room ready, placing maps and photos and news articles that Hardison printed out on the wall. "I got the pass - easy." Parker said, missing the memo. "Parker, we went over this. You're not supposed to take it. You're supposed to get caught with it." Sophie said. "I don't know how to get caught." Parker said. Kaira chuckled. "Yeah, I know it's difficult to steal badly. Just - just try." Sophie said. Parker started rattling various things at Monica's desk. "What the hell are you doing?" Monica asked Parker. "Cindy MacAllen - Casperkill nightly news." Parker said. "Casperkill? How'd you get in here?" Monica asked. "That's your cue. Go on, leave now." Sophie ordered. "Apparently, I have to go." Parker said. "Hey! Hey, I will have you arrested for trespassing if you do not tell me what you are doing here." Monica said. Kaira got nervous, listening to the conversation. "Well, technically, you can't have me arrested for trespassing because you don't own the station." Parker said, unamused. "Parker, just tell her the story." Sophie ordered. "I have a story - a huge story." Parker said. "Pentagon." Sophie reminded Parker. "Right. There's been a high-level source at the Pentagon that's been evading me." Parker told Monica, giving her the bait. "So you were gonna sneak in using my press credentials?" Monica questioned. "Yes." Parker said, a bit of shamefulness in her voice. "Tell me the story." Monica said. "No, I can't." Parker said. "Tell me or tell the police." Monica threatened. "I have a story that will bring down... the President of the United States." Parker whispered. She then left the station and drove Monica to the building as Kaira and Eliot went to hide so Monica wouldn't see them.</p><p>"I have to warn you about my source. He doesn't like strangers." Parker warned. "Strangers? I'm Monica Hunter. I'm in 41 markets." Monica said, proudly. Kaira watched as Monica and Parker walked into the room. Kaira heard their conversation through the comms. "Monica Hunter, meet Wade Perkins." Parker introduced Hardison's cover. "I told you, don't bring nobody here. They can't know what we know - not now." Hardison said. "I'm out." Monica said. "No, I know how this looks. Just hear him out." Parker said as Monica opened the door. That's when Eliot and Kaira rounded the corner, wearing a black suit and black tie and a black dress, respectively. Eliot and Kaira stared at Monica threateningly before walking away. "Okay. Three minutes." Monica said. Kaira and Eliot went into the hall to wait. "Tell me a story that'll bring down the President." Monica said. "T-The Pre - the President? Man, the President said he was gonna close down Guantanamo Bay. He lied. Guantanamo is being replaced by a network of secret prisons right here in the United States, man." Hardison explained in character. "These are satellite photos of vacant military installations. across the country - empty missile silos closed bases - places we've abandoned since the end of the Cold War. Then suddenly, three months ago, the photos were taken offline and classified." Parker continued giving Monica the story. "U-u-until I cracked the encryption. See, this h-here - here's what the government doesn't want you to see, man. Come look. This - construction sites, working around the clock, installing generators and water-filtration systems and - and - and - and - and -and fully stocked kitchens, man." Hardison continued explaining. "There's a word for that. It's called government pork." Monica said, unsure why it was a big deal. "No, no. A-all this construction is going on underground, under - beneath the eyes - the eyes of the world, man. They don't want you to see. Congress doesn't know. Governors don't know. Red Cross, A.C.L.U, National Geographic - nobody knows, man - nobody, man. They're putting terrorists in your backyard - terrorists under your backyard. "Hey, little Billy, go outside. Dig in the sandbox." "Oh!" Clank! "What did you find, little Billy? What did you find?" "It's a terrorist! It's a bunker full of terrorists, man!" Bunker, man." Hardison started ranted, getting dramatic. "What other sources do you have besides tinfoil hat over here?" Monica asked Parker. "Hey, hey, hey, man! Being a tinfoil hat is better than being a lap dog for the four corporations that control the global media, man." Hardison said, offended. "General Mark Chesler at the Pentagon is running this program. He's been ducking me. That's why I needed your credentials." Parker said. "Okay. Call me tomorrow. We'll hit the General in the morning." Monica said, leaving. They waited for her to be out of earshot. "That's what I'm talking about." Parker high fived Hardison. "All right." Hardison said, glad the meeting went well. Kaira and Eliot walked past Monica as she was on the phone with someone named Steve, saying as soon as she had Parker's sources, she was gonna kick Parker to the curb. Eliot and Kaira smiled as they walked in.</p><p>"Hunter's hooked." Eliot reported as Kaira shut the door. They walked to the wall of random conspiracies. "Our mark has a story and a source. We're halfway home." Hardison said, proud of himself. "Now for the hard part. We need to steal a General." Sophie said, stealing Nate's line. Kaira chuckled. "No, it's "Let's go steal a General," you know? It's a rallying cry." Nate corrected Sophie. "Yeah." Kaira said, smiling. "" We need to steal a General" - it's a little naggy. It's kinda like, "We need eggs," you know? "We need eggs." "We need eggs!" you know?" Nate said, showing the difference. Sophie sighed and left. "No, I'm just trying to give you a little..." Nate tried to explain. "You - you see what you did?" Hardison said, leaving with Sophie. "Eliot, these conspiracies aren't real, right?" Parker asked Eliot. "What do you mean?" Eliot asked, looking at Parker. "Like that one over there that says all the major wars of the past 50 years were ordered by members of "The Council"?" Parker said. "Parker, I'm not a liberty to discuss that with you." Eliot said, walking away with Kaira chuckling. Parker scoffed. "Well, you're not a member of The Council, are you?" Parker questioned. "Eliot?" Parker called out, curious. "Is he?" Parker asked Nate. "Oh, I don't know." Nate said as he left. "Uh, Nate, is he?" Parker questioned. "Kaira?" Parker got Kaira's attention. "That's none of my business. There's no such thing as The Council, right babe?" Kaira said, serious to Eliot. Eliot looked at her. "I cannot discuss that with you, sweetheart." Eliot said. "What? Babe." Kaira caught up with Eliot. They went back to the hotel and got ready for tomorrow, where they'd have to deal with the real Mark Chesler and get Nate the I.D and the office to show Monica. Kaira was sitting on the bed, spinning her engagement ring on her finger. Eliot had gotten out of the bathroom and sat down on the bed next to her. "What are you thinking, Princess?" Eliot asked Kaira, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just nervous, I guess. For us. For our future." Kaira admitted, sighing. "What about it?" Eliot questioned. "I guess I'm just overthinking how our lives are gonna be once we get married." Kaira admitted. "Kaira, if I didn't want to be married to you, I wouldn't have asked you to marry me." Eliot said, smiling. "I know. I guess I just am still trying to figure out what I did right to get you." Kaira smiled. Eliot moved his hands and placed them on Kaira's neck, cupping it. He gently pulled her into a kiss. Kaira chuckled as she kissed Eliot. "I love you Eliot Spencer." Kaira smiled at Eliot. "I love you so damn much Kaira Spencer." Eliot smiled at her. Kaira chuckled again. "Already with the married last name, Cowboy." Kaira chuckled amused. "Why not? Gotta get used to it." Eliot chuckled. "What if I wanted to keep my last name?" Kaira asked, half-joking. "If that's what you want, I'm not gonna stop you." Eliot said, honest. "Woah. Cowboy, I was kidding. I'll gladly be Kaira Spencer." Kaira said, taken back. "If that's what you want, then that's alright by me. Just as long as I get to call you my wife, I'll be happy." Eliot smiled again. "And I get to call you my husband." Kaira added. "Of course, my wife." Eliot said. Kaira started laughing. Then Eliot smiled, amused at his fiancé. They went to bed and got ready to get the I.D and the office for Nate.</p><p>They got changed. Kaira wore a black simple dress with wide shoulders and a black jacket with black, rimmed thick glasses. Eliot wore a black button up suit jacket with a dark blue undershirt and black tie. He had his hair back and had on the same glasses as Kaira. Kaira changed in the hotel room while Eliot changed in the bathroom. He walked out just as Kaira put the dress on. His jaw dropped. Kaira chuckled, amused. "Can you zip me up?" Kaira asked, her back facing Eliot. Eliot got out of his trance and zipped up Kaira's dress. "Thanks." Kaira said, giving Eliot a peck on the cheek. She walked to the bathroom and put on simple make up. "You look absolutely breathtaking, Kaira." Eliot complimented, smitten. "Thank you, baby. You look devilishly handsome as well." Kaira complimented, teasing Eliot. Eliot was flustered. "Cowboy, you have to put your jaw back on your face and not have it on the floor when we meet the General." Kaira said, amused. Eliot composed himself. "Right." Eliot said, He put his hair in a ponytail. Kaira smiled and they walked out. They drove to the Pentagon and Eliot and Kaira met with the real Mark Chesler. They walked up to him just as he finished a meeting. "General Chesler, We're from Senator Ruden's office, and he needs to speak with you immediately." Eliot said, holding a clipboard and a pencil. "They are about to put a spike in the XJ-12 Armored-vehicle project." Kaira continued, sounding innocent. "We're just relaying the message. We don't even know what that is, sir." Eliot finished. "It's the last eight years of my life. That's what it is!" the general said, not happy with the news. "Yes, sir. Uh, the senator would like you to meet him in his office A.S.A.P and bring the latest XJ-12 files." Eliot said. "I don't have them on me!" The General exclaimed, still not happy. "I'm sorry, sir. That's what the Senator told us, right?" Kaira said, looking at the notepad in Eliot's hand. "Yeah, he said, "Call your secretary and have her meet you there, pronto." And again, sir, we're just the messengers." Kaira told the General as Eliot used the magnet in the pencil that Hardison gave them and grabbed the I.D. Eliot stuck the pencil out just as Hardison grabbed the I.D and walked away.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira went in the opposite direction. Hardison got the I.D to Nate, with Nate's face instead of the Generals. "Is she gonna buy this?" Nate asked Sophie, who was in the meeting room. "Hardison changed the general's profile online. When she's on camera, Monica only looks at Monica." Sophie said. "Can't argue with you there, Soph." Karia commented, walking with Eliot to the General's office. "Parker, what's your 20?" Nate asked Parker. "Seconds away." Parker reported. Eliot and Kaira neared the office, waiting for Parker and Monica to arrive. "Shouldn't we have called first to schedule an interview?" Parker questioned, innocently. "Schedule a - ah, skipper, you're not covering the tulip festival for the action news, anymore. This is the real world." Monica said, amused a bit. "But what if he won't talk to us?" Parker asked. "Then we celebrate." Monica said. "Celebrate?" Parker questioned, confused. "Denial means guilt. Refusal means more guilt. Punch out my cameraman, and I'll kiss you on the mouth." Monica explained, stopping. Eliot and Kaira walked towards where Monica and Parker were, a threatening demeter about them. Eliot took of his glasses as they walked past. "I knew it. We've got a shadow." Monica said. "What?" Parker questioned. "It means your being followed. It means there's some meat on this bone." Monica said. Kaira was out of sight to watch, but she heard Monica knock on the door and start recording. "My friends, we are outside the office of General Mark Chesler to discover the truth about America's secret prisons." Monica explained. Kaira heard a door open. "What's going on here? Who - who the hell let you in this building?" Nate asked, in an American accent. "General, who is being held in the secret underground bunkers?" Monica asked. Nate cleared his throat. "I am late to a meeting." Nate said. "Then you don't deny that these prisons exist?" Monica asked, getting excited slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about." Nate said. Kaira saw Nate walk away. "So, how long have you been in charge of the prisons, General?" Monica called out. Kaira and Eliot met Nate back at the cars and listened to Parker and Monica, who went into the room, which Nate set up. It was silent for a moment before Parker spoke. "This is it - construction memos for the sites in the satellite photos, all classified. Cell requirements are eight square feet per bed." Parker said. "They are prisons. We've got ur proof." Monica said. "Yes." Parker said, defensively. "Parker. Be nice." Kaira warned, sitting in the car with Eliot. "Fair enough. You bring that crackpot source of yours down to my studio right now. I'm gonna obscure his face, disguise his voice, refer to him as my secret informant." Monica said, laying out the story. "Do you have any idea what this story might mean for Democracy?" Parker questioned, excited. "Whatever. I just wish I could see the faces of those bastards at the Times and The Post when they find out they've got to chase a Monica Hunter story." Monica said, excited. Parker mocked Monica quietly. "My story, too, right?" Parker asked.</p><p>They met back up at the meeting room as Parker and Hardison went to the studio. Kaira, Nate, and Sophie were at the meeting room and Eliot was out somewhere. Sophie was at the table in a light blue sweater, Nate on the recliner in his general outfit, and Kaira still in the black dress, but without the glasses or the jacket. "Hey, make sure to set the TiVo. I want to see how I look with the fuzzy dot on my face." Hardison reminded the group. "All right, just don't push too hard." Nate said. Kaira smiled as Sophie cleared her throat, gesturing to remind Nate she was the mastermind for this job. "What? I'm..." Nate said before Sophie cut him off. "Bury her." Sophie ordered. Kaira sat on the arm of the recliner and listened to the conversation. Monica went on air. It went silent for a moment. "Hardison! Hardison! Go in!" Sophie exclaimed as Hardison stumbled. Kaira got nervous. Parker cleared her throat as Hardison got Monica's attention. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, chief. What happened to the prison story, man?" Hardison asked in character. "Renfield, Betsy Wetsy. I'll admit I was tempted. I figured here's my chance to finally stick it to the D.C Press Corps. But then I got to work, and I read these." Monica said. "Nielsen Media - these are your ratings." Parker realized. "On Monday, I had "Suburban Teens in Secret Pregnancy Pact" - number one in the time slot. Then Wednesday was my social security show - "Will Your Safety Net Be There When You Retire?" I lost to the Discovery and History channels - sharks and Nazis. Now, granted, sharks and Natzis are cable Tv's heavy hitters, but that's no excuse." Monica said, nonchalantly. "But this is a national scandal!" Parker exclaimed. "No, a scandal is whatever scares Monica Hunter's viewers." Monica said. Kaira couldn't believe it. "Now, who are they gonna put in those secret prisons? My viewers? No. They're gonna put bad people in there. Secret government prisons make Monica Hunter's viewers feel safer. My job is to sell the morons a steady diet of scary. They want a reason to lock their doors. Fear sells, and Monica Hunter is in the fear business." Monica explained, with no sympathy. "That's not cool." Hardison said. "Don't you understand? If you don't get this, someone else will." Parker started yelling. It went quiet for a moment. "What are we gonna do now?" Hardison asked. Sophie moved to look at the wall of conspiracy theories. Kaira and Sophie looked at each other, having the same idea. "If it's fear Monica Hunter wants, let's show a bitch some fear. " Kaira said. Sophie approved. Nate looked at them, a bit worried. "This is how it starts." Nate said.</p><p>They made a plan for the next day. Parker was gonna be at the studio, where Eliot and Kaira would "run her over" after calling Monica about a development for the story. So they put the plan into action. Parker stood on the parking lot looking at Monica's office. Monica answered the phone. "Monica, it's Cindy MacAllen. There's more to this thing than we thought. The general called me." Parker explained, setting the hook. "Look, Cindy, I told you, there's no "Hunt for the Truth" story here." Monica said, unamused. "Please, I'm right outside! Give me just two minutes. It's big Monica. It's bigger than we thought." Parker started walking towards the studio as Kaira and Eliot rammed into Parker, sending her over the hood and on the road. Eliot and Kaira ran out to grab a red file Parker had on her. Eliot turned Parker over as Kaira grabbed the file. They looked at Monica, who was shocked. They got back in the car and drove off, leaving Parker on the sidewalk. Then Hardison grabbed Monica. "Don't stop. Come on." Hardison said, nervous. "They ran her over!" Monica exclaimed, getting worried now. "I know, I know, but we got to go. The security cameras, the ATM cameras, the traffic cameras - we're always being watched. Just put your head down and act natural." Hardison tried to explain to Monica. "Wait, why are you dressed like a mailman?" Monica asked Hardison. "I'm invisible, man. Mailman - nobody notices the mailman. He blends right in just like a-a circus clown. Wait, wait - did she tell you?" Hardison said, nervous. "The General called." Monica informed Hardison. "Yes. He called last night. He wants to meet - had a bad case of the sweats and a guilty conscience." Hardison said. "What's this all about?" Monica asked. "Something worth killing her over. Is it a big enough story for you now?" Hardison said. Once they were confident that Hardison and Monica were out of view, Parker got up, scarring the crowd. Kaira drove around the back and picked her up to go to the meeting room. Hardison alerted them that they were outside of the meeting location.</p><p>"Where the hell are we?" Monica asked. "No windows, no cameras, no crowds - it's the perfect place to meet. Now, look - look - look, do you want the truth or not, man?" Hardison said to Monica. "Miss Hunter! Where's MacAllen?" Nate asked in character. "MacAllen had an accident... right in front of me." Monica informed Nate. "They're tying up the loose ends." Nate stated. "Not the ends, man, not the ends, man." Hardison started ranted, getting quiet after a bit. "Trimethylxanthine - I'll try to see if I can get you some." Nate said. "Trimethyl what?" Monica questioned. "It's an antidote the CIA came up with in '73 during the Tokyo Intervention." Hardison informed Monica. "Antidote to what?" Monica asked. "Well, there's been an incident." Nate said. "An incident?" Monica questioned, not amused. "Don't spin me, General. I'm Monica frickin' Hunter, and I am on a hunt for the truth." Monica said, almost warning Nate. "Three weeks ago, there was a breach at one of our weapons-research labs outside D.C. Something got inside the water." Nate explained, setting the bait. "It's in the water? I always knew it was in the water." Hardison was about to start ranting before Monica yelled at him to shut up. "A virally replicating chemical nerve agent - a nerve gas. Dissolves in the water, spreads like a disease." Nate explained. "No. No, we would have heard from the hospitals, people coming in with symptoms." Monica said, not believing the story. "It takes a while for it to rise to toxic levels in the human system. People should start getting sick any day now." Nate said. "I don't understand. What does this have to do with the secret prisons?" Monica asked, confused. Nate scoffed. "She thinks they're prisons! Out here's the prison. They're shelters for the elite - environmentally sound safehouses with their own refiltering water supply - good for two years of underground living, even though I think we'll only need about six months." Nate informed Monica. "If you think the American people are gonna stand by and watch while thousands of D.C residents get sick and -" Monica was saying threateningly before Hardison cut her off.</p><p>"T-t-thousands? Thousands? You-you don't get it, man! It's - it's in the water! Once it's in the condensation cycle, it starts getting in rain clouds and raindrops. Rain - it keeps falling, man! It's not raining men, man, it's raining death! It's raining death, man!" Hardison exclaimed, upset as Kaira tried to not laugh at Hardison's dramatics. "In a couple of days, being in one of those bunkers will be the only safe place in the entire country." Nate finished, serious. "I still need more proof." Monica called out. "It's all in the file that MacAllen took - the red file." Nate said. Kaira figured Monica was remembering the "accident". "They stole that file off of her body." Monica informed Nate. "You have other sources. Use them. Project is code-named Destiny. It's up to you, Hunter. It's up to you to warn the American people. Now go hunt for the truth!" Nate finished. Kaira, Eliot, Parker, and Sophie met back at the meeting room, looking at the other conspiracy theories on the wall as Sophie waited for Hardison and Nate to show up at the table. "We totally went to the moon." Parker said. "Movie sets. I've seen them. They're outside of Albuquerque." Eliot said. Kaira laughed at her fiancé. "Eliot, the sets were probably for a movie being filmed there." Kaira said, rationally. Parker leaned on Eliot like a little sister would do. "Why would there still be sets there?" Parker asked, quietly. "Because they're gonna reuse them for the Mars mission - repaint it all red." Eliot said. "I can't believe I'm marrying an idiot." Kaira joked. Eliot scoffed at her. "But I'm your idiot." Eliot said. Kaira laughed as Nate and Hardison walked in. Nate threw Parker the orange pill bottle, filled with peppermint candy that looked like pills. "Oh, peppermint!" Parker said, shaking the bottle. Hardison went over by Sophie and Nate joined the trio at the wall. "Are you sure it's cool to let her loose?" Hardison asked Sophie, setting down his bag. Sophie thought for a second before speaking. "She has to have corroboration from her own sources. She has to craft the narrative. Monica Hunter has to be the author of her own personal nightmare." Sophie said, sounding like Nate. "Do I sound that creepy when I-" Nate was saying before Eliot cut him off. "Hell yes." Eliot said, a beat in between words. Parker agreed and Kaira was silent. "Really?" Nate questioned. "You do." Eliot confirmed. "The only question is whether Hardison guesses her sources right." Sophie said, cueing up Hardison. "G-g-guess? Guess?" Hardison questioned, offended. "Well, you know..." Sophie said to explain before Hardison continued. "Woman, my name's Alec Hardison. I do not guess, okay? Look, journalists - they're lazy. They always go back to the same sources. I compared Monica Hunter's stories from the last 10 years and created a heuristic model based on her sources. I filtered by story type, priority, and evidentiary chain. Look. Sex scandal - 87 percent she goes to these sources. Serial killer scare - 90 percent, she contacts these sources for confirmation. Government secrets and health scare intersects - 95 percent chance she goes to these sources. Look, look. You - right there, she's emailing them right now. Look. I... am answering for them." Hardison started ranting, typing on his computer. "See, now all of her cellphone calls to these sources go straight to voicemail." Hardison said. "Leaving her no choice but to contact the one and only source that we let her speak to." Sophie said. Kaira remembered Hardison learning about who Destiny really is.</p><p>Kaira chuckled at the image in her head of the congressman freaking out once heard the name Destiny, who was actually a stripper. After a while, Hardison reported something troubling. They looked at the security footage of Monica panicking over water. Kaira and Eliot were drinking beer near the desk and Parker was on the recliner, and Nate and Sophie were at the laptop. "This is the studio security footage from three hours ago." Hardison said. "Now, that is what I call control." Sophie said, proud of her work. "Yeah, we might've pushed too hard." Nate said. Sophie scoffed. "Please." Sophie said. Just then there was a knock at the door. "It's me - Monica Hunter. Are you there?" Monica said, worried and scared. The team scrambled to hide in the next room and closed the door, staying silent. "Let me in!" Monica exclaimed weakly. "Oh, thank God." Monica said, relieved to see Hardison. "You're the only one I can trust to help me get this footage." Monica said. "Fo - some footage, man?" Hardison questioned, hoping he could dissuade her. "I need you to take me to one of the bunkers, now. We need video proof. We are gonna blow this wide open." Monica said, laying out her plan. Hardison tried to object and Monica told him to come with her. Hardison reluctantly went with Monica. Once the door was shut, the team exited the adjacent room. "Too much." Parker pointed out. "Little bit." Eliot said, taking a sip of his beer. Kaira took a sip of hers. "Well, she did say she wanted fear." Kaira pointed out. Sophie had a face and Nate looked at her, his face saying "I told you so". Kaira got on Hardison's laptop and breathed in. The team had confused faces. "What? I'm not hacking, I'm looking on Google maps to see if I can find Hardison a base that'll pass as a bunker." Kaira pointed out as she started typing. With minimal problems, Kaira found Hardison an army base that was on his wall of conspiracies.</p><p>"I got you, Hardison. Go to the Army Reserve Base." Kaira said to Hardison. She told him the address and waited. It was a while before Hardison and Monica arrived. "Here?" Monica questioned. Hardison said to hold on. "H-hold on. Hold on a second. Okay, all right, as Kaira said, your satellite photos have something that will pass as a bunker at the Army Reserve base. I'm right behind you." Nate said. Kaira, Eliot, Parker, and Sophie were at the laptop with Kaira behind the screen on Eliot's lap. "But there's nothing in there but tank parts. Just get the footage and run. And Nate's right behind you. He's gonna pick you up and do the blow-off." Sophie said. "Hardison, be careful." Kaira said, getting a bit nervous. "Okay." Hardison said, quietly. It was a silent moment before Hardison spoke. "Well, there you go." Hardison said. "We're not close enough. Shoot me." Monica said. Kaira silently cursed and groaned. Kaira then heard through Hardison's comm Monica speaking to the camera. "This is Monica Hunter, coming to you from a secret military base just outside of Washington D.C, with the most shocking "Hunt for the Truth" ever." Monica said, then it went quiet. "You -" Hardison said, annoyed. Then chain link fence was heard rattling. "Oh my god. Hardison, watch yourself." Kaira warned again. "Hey, Hardison, Hardison. What's-" Nate asked. Then Hardison was heard groaning and then soldiers telling them to put their hands up and drop the camera. The team at the meeting room looked at Sophie. "Glass half full - she really buys the bunker story." Sophie said, leaving. "No! There's no glass half full here, Soph! Hardison is in an army base with no backup and Nate has an I.D that's already been reported stolen. Even if he gets in, they're gonna be coming in hot." Kaira said, getting worried for Hardison. There was silence as Hardison and Monica were dragged into the building.</p><p>"A-all this - this is an army base?" Hardison questioned. "What did you think it was?" The soldier asked Hardison. "I - don't know. I don't know that white woman. I met her at a bar. She said we was going back to her place. I thought it was a gated community." Hardison tried to explain. Kaira tried not the chuckle at the excuse. "And the video camera?" The soldier questioned. "S-she a freak, man." Hardison said, nervously. The soldier left. "Get me out of here." Hardison ordered. "Yeah, I-I'm working on it." Sophie said. "I'm on it." Parker said, leaving the adjacent room, and putting on her jacket. "No! Parker, Monica thinks you're dead. She sees you, the con is blown." Kaira said. She was thinking of how to get Hardison out of the army base. "Right." Parker said, sitting down. "Damn the con. I'm a black man caught on an army base with a video camera. I am going to jail forever." Hardison said, his voice cracking at the end in fear. "Let's see, Nate is the only one close enough to get you." Kaira said. "Yeah, but Nate's five minutes away and still trying to figure out how he's gonna walk two prisoners off an army base using an I.D that's already been reported stolen. No guys, we're gonna have to stall." Nate said. "S-stall?" Hardison said. Kaira was still thinking. "Hey lovebirds, get me everything you can on a Lieutenant Abbot. Just - just do - do - do what I taught you both." Hardison said. "Got it." Kaira said. Eliot tried to type. "The http thing comes before the "www.", right?" Eliot asked. Kaira shoved Eliot out of the way. "I got this." Kaira said, starting to type. "It ain't the time, Eliot. It ain't - it ain't the time." Hardison said, not happy. "You see, it's not that much fun when you're hanging out there in the wind and there's a dude behind a laptop cracking jokes, is there?" Eliot said, getting a slap behind the head from Kaira. He looked at her, shocked as Kaira continued searching for the information. "I like it when we switch jobs. It's exciting." Parker said. The trio at the laptop looked at her. "Well, when you're a jack of trades, it's easy." Kaira said, still searching. Kaira finished her search and relayed the information to Hardison.</p><p>"That's everything on this guy." Kaira said. She exhaled to calm down. "Sir, I need to know why you're on this base." Abbot asked Hardison. "Yes. Why am I on this base?" Hardison asked, calmly. "I'm asking you." Abbot said. "No, I'm asking you. Why am I on this base? Why am I in this room?" Hardison questioned the poor soldier. "So I can ask you questions." Abbot said. "Well, maybe it's so I can ask you questions, Lieutenant Kyle Abbot, social security 823 dash 24 dash 6270." Hardison said, intimidating Abbot. "I don't know what you're up to-" Abbot said, not having it. "Maybe you're not cleared to know. Two disciplinary actions? That one in Germany - tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Maybe you're just too much of a security risk." Hardison said. He banged his hand against the table and Kaira jumped, getting worried. "Did I say you could leave?" Hardison asked the soldier threateningly. Sophie came up with a plan to get Nate through the gate and told Nate. "Not gonna work." Nate said. "It's all in the salute, man." Eliot said. "Just act like a general and work the stars and bars. They'll let you through as soon as they see the bars. Believe me, I was one of these guys." Kaira said, assuring Nate. "Good form, soldier. As you were." Nate said, presumably to the soldier at the gate. It was a moment before they heard anything from Nate. "No, not, insane - just a reporter. Well, congratulations, gentlemen. This base has passed with, uh, flying colors. Well done." Nate informed the two soldiers. "Passed what, sir?" One of the soldiers asked, worried. "Have you not been briefed? You were supposed to be briefed. The Department of Defense has decided to reassure the American people about the safety of their military bases, so we've agreed to cooperate with the network and make a television special - you know, to show off just how effective our security is." Nate said. "They were pretty easy to catch, sir." Abbot said. "Well, for you. But at Camp Munroe in Idaho, those two were signing their name on nukes with shiny silver pens. Turn them loose now, and I'll get them out of your hair." Nate said. The two soldiers let Hardison and Monica go. "Sorry to waste your time, gentlemen. All right, well done, men." Nate said. Kaira breathed in relief. Kaira heard the doors open, so she assumed Nate, Hardison, and Monica left. "Oh, trimethylxanthine. Thank you." Monica said. "It just slows down the effect of the toxin hopefully long enough for you to get the truth out." Nate said. "How did you find us?" Monica asked. "Are you kidding me? A famous reporter shows up at one of the bunkers, sets off alarms all over the city. Yeah, we're gonna be lucky if we get out of here in one piece, I'll tell you that." Nate said. "We'll split up." Hardison suggested. "No." Monica said. "Yes, your car is still parked out over by the fence. Wade, you pick it up, and we'll meet you back at the apartment." Nate said, laying out the plan. "We'll gather the evidence, and we'll meet up at the studio." Monica said. Just then a soldier was heard telling them to stop. Monica told Nate he was right as they got in and drove away. Hardison grabbed the car and drove to the apartment. Hardison arrived first, and they cleared out the room and put the red file on the table near the door.</p><p>They hid and heard Monica and Nate arrive. "I've got the footage of the shelters and the testimony of a three-star general." Monica said. "They can't continue the program with this kind of exposure." Nate said. "We're gonna grab the satellite photos, go down, and put you on the air. I'm gonna make them pay for keeping me out of those bunkers..." Monica said. "Yeah." Nate said. "...and lying..." Monica said. "Yeah." Nate said. "... and injustice." Monica said. "Yeah." Nate said. Kaira heard the door open as Eliot got ready. Monica gasped. "Where did it go? The photos! The maps! Where's Wade Perkins?" Monica said, getting panicked. "Thank God, the red file!" Monica said. She gasped again as Kaira and Eliot revealed themselves. Eliot was wearing a black apron and a white polo. Kaira was wearing something similar, only a white t-shirt instead. Eliot had gloves on and was taking them off. "Pardon me. I was just cleaning up." Eliot said, calmly. "We hunt for the truth... through many dark places. I am a patriot, Miss Hunter. I'm sorry. Earl? Dawn?" Nate said as he was walking over to Monica, standing in front of her. Monica then sprayed Nate with pepper spray as he started yelling. Monica ran, and Eliot and Kaira grabbed Nate. He leaned against the cabinets in the room, groaning in pain. Eliot chuckled. "Good thing Parker switched that with water." Eliot said, hitting Nate in the back, thinking he was faking. "Didn't - didn't switch. Oh!" Nate said as the trio started coughing as they smelled the pepper spray. "Sorry, Nathan." Kaira kept coughing. "I'll get the milk. It should help." Kaira said, leaving the room, still coughing. She grabbed the milk and flushed Nate's eyes out with it. After a bit, they calmed down.</p><p>Hardison did the breakdown and they met back up at the offices the next afternoon, where they watched the news report on the small screen in the kitchen of Monica going batshit crazy on air. Kaira watched as Ray Pennington, the bus driver, said he was glad to have his reputation back. Eliot was wearing a chefs apron and a blue bandana as he was chopping up some red bell pepper and Kaira at a cutting board next to him, cutting cucumbers and peppers, Nate behind her with the wine opener with pink wine and clear wine glasses on the table, and Hardison next to her, drinking his orange soda out of a wine glass, and Parker looking at the conspiracies from the wall. "See, Ray was just the beginning. I'm telling you, every person that Hunter slandered is gonna get a second chance." Nate said. "Just like a crooked cop." Kaira smiled at Eliot, amused. "Loch Ness monster?" Parker asked the group, holding up the picture. "Loch Ness submarine." Hardison said as Nate poured the wine and Eliot grabbed the red bell peppers. "No!" Parker exclaimed. "Scottish waters are cold and deep. It's the perfect place to test." Eliot said. "Area 51?" Parker asked, holding the picture of Area 51. "True." Eliot said. "False." Hardison said. "True." Kaira said, putting her peppers in the bowl. "That's true." Eliot said. Nate smelled the wine. "False. No, she said Area 51 - 51." Hardison reiterated. "I'm sorry, false - Area 52." Eliot said. "Been there." Hardison said as Nate left with the wine. "Nathan, you don't drink the wine until the food is done!" Kaira called out to him. Kaira got a look from Nate and Kaira laughed as she saw Nate walk towards Sophie on the couch. "Woman, no." Hardison said. "Yes. That was the rule at my nona's house when I was younger. You weren't allowed to drink until the food was served." Kaira answered, setting dishes in the sink as Eliot got the bowls of snacks finished. "Actually, you're right babe." Eliot smiled at Kaira. Hardison scoffed at them. "It's Italian culture. Wine and food are very important. And so is family." Kaira answered, pouring herself a glass of wine. They moved to the other table and Parker kept asking about different urban legends as Nate and Sophie talked at another table, Sophie drinking the wine. Kaira smiled. This was what she loved about her job. These little moments. She would cherish them forever.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is the last chapter in the mass upload. From here on out, I will be uploading once a week. Remember to leave your comments and share! Also follow me on Twitter (@mrsmoviefan_67) to get information on this story!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. The Top Hat Job (2x6)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team's latest mark is the Vice President of a food company, who knowingly put tainted frozen dinners on the market. In order to access the report, the team puts on a magic show during the State of the Company meeting to buy them time. It'll take a lot of luck and a little magic to pull this job off.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! So, the story has changed a bit in formatting. A user commented on my last chapter, saying that the format of the story being in one clump was hard to read. So, I went through all of my chapters to space it out some. Thank you for the suggestion! Without further adieu, here is chapter 5 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira always got nervous when Eliot had to leave for recon. This time, it was for Lilian Foods. Nate and Sophie were meeting with the client, Dr. Leigh Jameson, who was trying to get the reports to take down the V.P, who knowingly put tainted frozen dinners on the market. Kaira sat next to Hardison on the couch as he was balancing a tennis ball on his forehead as they watched through the button cam footage as Eliot went to Lillian Foods as a pizza man and Parker would report in on the outside. Kaira did like the pizza delivery outfit on Eliot. "Her name is Katie. Likes - wild horses. Dislikes - vanilla toothpaste." Hardison said. "Hardison, you don't need to give my fiancé any ideas." Kaira quipped. "Please stop talking." Eliot said, not happy. Eliot went to the front desk and waited for the secretary to finish talking. He turned away. "Oh, I'm so in." Eliot said, proud. Kaira chuckled. "Hey, Cowboy, remember your coming home with me tonight." Kaira flirted a bit. "Hey, uh, Eliot, what is that blocking your button cam? Oh, yeah, it's your ego." Hardison quipped. "Parker?" Kaira got her attention, chuckling at Hardison's quip. "First 10 floors are free-climbing heaven, but after that, it's a slip and slide." Parker said. Another male voice was heard, saying Parker had nice hair. She told him he didn't. They heard Nate and Sophie come up from behind, arguing about Nate getting a date. "Hardison! Kaira!" Nate got their attention. "Hey, Nathan." Kaira said, looking at Nate. "Mnh-mnh. I don't think that counts." Sophie said. "Are you, uh, running recon on Lillian Foods?" Nate questioned. "Uh, yeah?" Hardison answered. Nate hit the tennis ball off of Hardison's forehead.</p><p>"Don't you think you should consult with me first?" Nate asked. "Did you - did he ju-" Hardison stumbled out, offended as Sophie sat down next to Kaira. "We do this all the time, Nate." Sophie called out to him. "Hey, look, man, where do you think my intel comes from? For the last time, there is no blueprint fairy." Hardison said. "Plus Eliot can handle it. I wouldn't have sent him in with Parker if I didn't think he could handle it." Kaira said, looking at Nate, who was grabbing coffee. "Yeah, well, I want you to pull them out. Do it now." Nate ordered. "Nathan, we know what we're doing. It's not that risky of a building. It's a food company." Kaira said. "No, no, you don't, no. Not with a place like this. You don't know what you're doing." Nate said, going to sit down at the table. "I'd give it exactly, uh - uh, two seconds before this becomes a train wreck." Nate said. Kaira scoffed. As if on cue, Eliot came on comms. "Hardison, we got a problem." Eliot reported. Kaira groaned and saw Nate's "I told you so" look. "Baby, what do you mean we got a problem?" Kaira asked Eliot. "They're MRI'ing my pizza, and their stance says ex-CIA." Eliot reported. "Shit." Kaira groaned out. "You can tell somebody worked for the CIA just from how they stand?" Hardison asked Eliot. "It's a very distinctive stance!" Eliot exclaimed, quietly. Just then a warning with rapid beeping came on the screen, saying there was an sat up and got to work. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no. You are getting query spiked all over the grid. NSA. CIA. OSS. I-I don't even know what that - you know what? You want to play rough? We gonna play rough." Hardison said, not happy as he typed on his keyboard. Kaira sensed the look they were getting. "Nathan, get that shitty smirk off your face! I can see it from here!" Kaira called out. Nate chuckled. "Oh, we gonna play." Hardison said, in the zone. "How... do you like me... now?" Hardison said, finishing his typing. "Yeah." Sophie whispered. The screens changed to a bright red security threat detected warning with the threat of a lockout imminent. "Oh. Uh, Eliot, you need to get out of there..." Hardison said as the power went out in the apartment. "Right now." Kaira finished. "Working on it!" Eliot called out as Kaira heard fighting on her comm. "Dammit Hardison!" Kaira yelled. Hardison groaned as he worked to get the power back on. "Parker, I'm coming out hot." Eliot warned Parker. "Okay. All clear out here. Just me and..." Parker said before the same voice was heard, except this time it was him saying he had another one out where he was. Parker got away, and so did Eliot. Kaira was relieved they were okay. "What? Hardison!" Nate called. "Wait for it." Hardison said as he typed on his keyboard. He snapped his fingers and the power came back on. "See? It wasn't no problem. I mean, I-I had it under control. You like the, uh, the new clear image on the... button cams? I-I upgraded. Yeah." Hardison said, trying to recover. "We did have it under control." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>An hour later, Eliot and Parker returned. Kaira greeted Eliot at the door. She hugged him. He winced and she pulled back. "I'm so sorry, Eliot. Let me get you an ice pack." Kaira said, nervous. Eliot grabbed her. "It's okay. I'm fine." Eliot smiled at her. "You really expect me to believe that? You took on what, three ex-CIA guys? And you winced when I hugged you. So sit your ass down on the barstool, and let me get you an ice pack." Kaira said, almost scolding Eliot. The team looked amused as Eliot grabbed Kaira and kissed her. "I love you, Princess." Eliot smiled at her. "I love you, too, Cowboy." Kaira smiled. She walked Eliot over to the barstools as Nate tossed Kaira an icepack. She handed it to Eliot, but he wouldn't take it. Kaira gave Eliot a look, causing the team to chuckle. "Eliot Spencer, you are taking this ice pack, and you aren't allowed to say no." Kaira said, sternly. Eliot smiled at her, amused. "How about if I get a kiss first?" Eliot asked Kaira. Kaira chuckled, not surprised at what was happening. "Damn you, Cowboy." Kaira smiled as she leaned in and kissed him. Eliot grabbed the ice pack and put it on his forearm. Parker sat next to Eliot and Kaira stood in front. "So, pizza-delivery guy was your big plan?" Nate questioned, sitting with Sophie at the table. "You know what, man? It was recon. Okay? Information gathering has historically been a very safe and peaceful business. And - and it was a food company! It wasn't like they were making weapons." Hardison said, not happy. "Listen, I-I've worked insurance for companies like this. Anyone gets their hands on the company's food patents, it could cost them billions. And, by the way, they guard that stuff better than defense contractors." Nate explained. "Alright, point made, Nathan." Kaira sighed. "Does that hurt?" Parker asked Eliot, poking his arm. "Yeah." Eliot said, looking at Parker. "Well, that explains all the ex-spooks hanging around the lobby, then." Sophie said. "You know what? You live and you learn." Hardison said, wanting to move on. "No, I lived. All right? You sat behind a computer and acted like Kool Moe Dee." Eliot quipped. "What you call me? Kool Moe Dee? Like you even know anything about Kool Moe Dee. I was gathering very crucial information." Hardison said. "Does that hurt?" Parker asked Eliot, poking his arm. "Yeah." Eliot said. "How about now?" Parker poked Eliot again. "How about you share that crucial information with the rest of us?" Nate asked Hardison, not wanting to argue anymore. "Okay. You - you know what? You ain't said nothing but a word." Hardison said, pulling out his remote and getting the briefing loaded up. "Stop." Eliot told Parker, who kept poking his arm. Parker went to leave, but turned back around and poked Eliot's arm. Kaira chuckled at the shenanigans. "Eliot. Guys. Eliot. What are you doing?" Nate asked, trying to rally the kids. "She was poking me." Eliot said, still sitting at the barstool. Nate walked by and was about to poke Eliot, who flinched. "Don't. Man-" Eliot warned. Kaira moved out of the way to go sit down and saw Nate try to touch Eliot again. "Hey." Eliot warned. Nate was at the screen while everyone else was on the couch.</p><p>Kaira was sitting on the couch with Eliot behind her on a backward chair, playing with her hair, and laying the ice pack on his forearm. "Lillian Foods is the third-largest food company in the world." Hardison explained as Nate went to sit down. "Last year, made 12 billion dollars. This is the vice president of the frozen foods division - Erik Casten. Erik with a K, Casten with a C." Hardison said. "How is that relevant?" Nate asked. "Oh. Eric with a C - nice and friendly, Erik with a K - evil." Parker said, getting a look from Eliot and Kaira. "I didn't know that." Sophie said. "Everybody knows that." Parker said. "According to Dr. Jameson, Erik with a K is trying to cover up salmonella found in the frozen dinners so his division doesn't have to pay out for that recall." Hardison explained, moving on. "That's why I grow me and Kaira's food." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled. "How do you find the time?" Sophie asked. "You make time." Eliot said. "He only sleeps 90 minutes a day. The rest is spent cuddling when he's done with the garden, or other things." Kaira smiled. The team got disgusted looks but kept silent. "All right, so what we have to do is we have to get a hold of Casten's report and make it public." Nate explained the plan. "Okay, well the second part seems easy enough, but that first part may be hard. It should be on the servers. Hardison, how do we get in the building?" Kaira asked. Nate had a proud dimeter looking at Kaira. "I'm so far ahead of you, man, it's scary. I love it. Look, I can't hack their system from the outside, so I sent a trojan phone. It's hacker 101. What I did was messenger a smartphone with an extended battery to an employee that's on vacation. Package sits in the mailroom, it scans for wireless and Bluetooth access points. Unfortunately, even their internal servers are locked down like the CIA, so all I was able to get was employee e-mails." Hardison explained. "Well, anything useful there?" Sophie asked. "Oh, yeah. You know what? Marie from payroll has a crush on Steve from accounts receivable. Look, that's Steve right there on his vacation in Florida from a month ago." Hardison said, pulling up the picture and getting off track.</p><p>"She likes him? Really?" Parker questioned. "Sure as hell ain't my type." Kaira answered, uncomfortably. "Oh, yeah. That man is a sexy man-beast right there. Now, Shannon and Chris from marketing, they got a little fight going on with Lauren from ads." Hardison continued getting off track. "Office politics. God, it's lucky we don't - we don't have that." Sophie said. "Yeah. Except instead of co-workers, I'm stuck with a brother and sister who annoy the hell out of me, my fiancé who can't work a computer worth a damn, and my two mentors. But I wouldn't have it any other way." Kaira said, smiling at the team. The team smiled back, liking the kind words. "Thank for that, little sis. Anyway, everybody up in there is complaining about this "State of the Company" thing tomorrow. And Brian from I.T-" Hardison was saying as Nate got an idea. "That's it. That's it right there. That's our way in." Nate realized. "Brian from I.T? No, he is not a team player." Hardison said, confused. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's our - that's our way in. yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's it. That's it. Yeah, the "State of the Company" meeting. Here we go." Nate said. The team was confused. "What is that? I don't know what that is." Eliot said. Hardison shook his head no, confused. "Me neither." Parker said. "It's like State of the Union-" Hardison guessed. "What is that?" Sophie asked. Kaira also shook her head no. "Oh, right, right. No, you guys never had real jobs. Yeah." Nate said, sarcastically. "I worked at a restaurant all throughout high school. A couple of them actually. I also worked at a candy shop in middle school." Kaira answered. "Really?" Nate questioned. "Well, yeah. I didn't always want to be a thief. This guy screwed that plan up." Kaira answered Nate, smiling at Eliot. "Right. All right, so when I used to work for I.Y.S, we would do this all the time. The company - big companies, they make their employees sit for the entire day and listen to these boring speeches, lame entertainment, bad food - it's -" Nate explained. "Ugh. I'm so glad I don't live in the real world." Parker commented. "Yeah, and it's mandatory. It's the only time that all of the employees are away from their desk at the same time." Nate said. "All right, so, we go in as caterers, we download the report while everyone's chucking back the mini quiches - easy." Sophie said. "No. No, see, it's a food company. All the catering is in-house." Hardison explained. "Which leaves the entertainment as the only outsiders. Hardison, who's the entertainment?" Kaira said. Hardison chuckled a bit. "Oh, you're gonna love this." Hardison said.</p><p>Hardison pulled up the entertainment and left with Parker and Kaira to set the magician up so they could go in as the entertainment. They sat at a table and watched the magician, who wasn't that good. "Chronos the Magnificent. More like Chronos the jackass. Look. Multiple sexual harassment charges." Hardison said, showing the women the news articles on his phone. "Even his assistant hates him." Kaira pointed out, reading the body language of the assistant. "That's kind of sad." Parker said. Chronos said he needed a volunteer. Everyone had their hands up. Kaira felt her breathing get heavy and her heart racing. Kaira knew what caused this... a panic attack. Kaira excused herself, leaving just Parker and Hardison, who sensed her change in dementor. Parker ended up volunteering to go. Hardison showed her the schematics for the box Chronos was using for the trick. She went up, with Hardison and Parker acting so in love it wasn't even funny. Kaira went into the bathroom of the building and hid. She pulled out her cellphone and called Eliot. "Hey, sweetheart. Everyone okay?" Eliot asked. "Hey, baby. Yeah. Hardison and Parker are about done." Kaira informed Eliot. "Good. Good. Are you okay?" Eliot asked. "The jackass asked for a volunteer and I had a panic attack. Couldn't breathe. I got myself calmed down, but I just needed to hear your voice." Kaira smiled. "All right. I love you." Eliot said. Kaira grinned. "I love you too." Kaira said. She hung up the phone and left the bathroom. Kaira heard Hardison and Parker finish, with Hardison having gotten punched.</p><p>They went back to the office and finished setting up the covers for the next day. Hardison and Kaira were in the kitchen, taking a breather. Hardison pulled Kaira aside. "Hey, what happened at the show? You just vanished." Hardison questioned, concerned. "I was about to have a panic attack. That's why I left." Kaira answered, ashamed of herself. Hardison placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey. No reason to beat yourself up over it. Are you okay?" Hardison said, concerned. "I am now. If I can get out of the situation that caused the panic attack, then I can stop it. That's why I excused myself. I did not want to be up on stage. I don't know if it was because that guy would see my panic and pick me to be an asshole, or if I got scared, but I hated that feeling." Kaira admitted reluctantly. Hardison pulled her into a hug. "It's okay. As long as you got us, you're gonna be okay." Hardison comforted Kaira, who smiled and calmed down. They let go. Eliot joined them. "Hey, sweetheart. How are you holding up?" Eliot asked her as Hardison left with a smile. "I'm better. I don't know what happened, it just came out of nowhere. My body wanted to run, so I did. I'm supposed to fight, not run." Kaira admitted, painfully. Eliot places his hands on Kaira's shoulders. He looked her in the eye. "Hey. There's no shame in running. No one's mad or upset at you. Come back into the living room and let's get your cover ready for tomorrow." Eliot smiled at Kaira, pulling her into a hug. Kaira smiled as she hugged Eliot. "Thank you, Cowboy." Kaira said, letting go of Eliot. "No problem, Princess." Eliot smiled, holding her hand. Kaira placed a kiss on his cheek and they walked out. Kaira was gonna be the assistant manager of the company, Sophie was the manager, Nate the magician, Parker and Hardison were the assistants, and Eliot was the background, with Kaira as needed. They left that night and went home. Kaira and Eliot got changed and laid in bed. Kaira laid on Eliot's shoulder. "I love you, Eliot." Kaira looked at Eliot, smiling. Eliot smiled back. "I love you too, Kaira." Eliot said. He placed a kiss on her forehead. Kaira chuckled as she got comfy. "I can't wait to call you my wife, Princess." Eliot smiled, still not believing he got Kaira to agree to marry him. "And I can't wait to call you my husband, Cowboy." Kaira smiled back. Her eyes closing. Eliot placed another kiss on her forehead as Kaira drifted to sleep.</p><p>The next morning, they met back up at the office and got their covers, van, and the tricks set up. They drove to Lillian Foods and parked. Sophie called the head of security as the rest of the team got everything out of the van. Eliot got in the Box of Mysteries with the white rabbit as they started wheeling their stuff in. Nate walked in first with Kaira. Nate started chuckling as he played with the deck of cards he had. He walked up to the security guy and fanned the cards out. "Pick a card." Nate said. He showed the guy another trick as she shook a card, changing it from a King of hearts to an ace of spades. Nate pulled out a card and gave it to the security guy. "Harry Turner." Nate introduced himself. "Chloe Turner. The assistant manager for Harry." Kaira answered. "And my daughter." Nate added, causing them both to smiled. "Magician, I know." The security guy said, looking at the card as Nate kept walking. "He prefers illusionist." Kaira pointed out. "Magicians do kid's parties. I do Fortune 500 companies." Nate pointed out. Kaira called the gang in as they brought in the equipment. "Whoa! And who are these people?" The security guy said, stopping Nate and Kaira. "Oh, this is my team. I believe you spoke with my manager. This is Nell Carver. All right?" Nate said, pointing to Sophie, who was wheeling in boxes. "And that's our illusions designer, Frank Brunner." Kaira said, pointing to Hardison, who was wheeling in a big box with Eliot inside. "And my lovely assistant, Clea." Nate pointed out Parker, who was wearing all black. Hardison walked up. "Hey, man. I hope you have a doctor in the house, because this man right here is gonna blow your mind." Hardison said, shaking the security guy's hand. "Thanks, Frank. We're on a very tight schedule." Kaira told the crew as they went to move the stuff in. "Nothing gets in or out of this building without getting scanned." The security guy said, stopping Nate and Kaira again. "These crates contain my illusions, my life. I'm not gonna reveal my secrets. Come on." Nate argued, trying to move forward, but was stopped. "That's not my problem! Is it?" The security guy said. Kaira gasped. Nate chuckled. "Could you please -" Nate said as Sophie interrupted him. "Yeah, I'll take care of this, Harry. Mr. Markland, um, I'm sure we can figure something out. It's not gonna be possible-" Sophie said before Kaira spoke up. "Be a dear, Frank, and pull up the van so we can leave." Kaira said. "Chloe..." Sophie was about to scold Kaira. "Yeah, I think so." Nate said, causing the team to prepare to leave. Sophie and Nate started arguing as Mr. Price came over.</p><p>"This is ridiculous! What the hell is going on here?" Mr. Price, the CEO asked. "Mr. Price. Sir... this is-" The security guy said as Nate turned around, handing him another card. "Harry Turner, Illusionist extraordinaire." Nate said. "Are you Mr. Price, the CEO of this company?" Kaira asked. "I am. What's going on here?" Mr. Price said, not happy with the ruckus that was created. "I would like very much, sir, to give your people a wonderful show, but your, uh, doorman here would like to look at our boxes of illusions and - and destroy the illusion." Nate explained. "Markland, just lighten up, will you?" Mr. Price scolded his security. "Just lighten up, would you?" Nate repeated. "It's a magic show, for Pete's sake." Nate repeated the line as Mr. Price walked away. Kaira smiled and signaled the crew to get ready. They went backstage, Kaira following closely behind Nate, clocking the exits and security. She signaled Nate they were safe. "Okay, we're clear. Let him out." Nate ordered as he pulled out a red handkerchief. Parker opened the door to reveal Eliot in all black, wearing a black beanie, holding a white rabbit. "It's a good job your not claustrophobic, Eliot." Sophie said. Kaira walked up to Eliot. "I was when I was a kid. Take this damn thing." Eliot said, handing the rabbit to Nate. "Oh, all right." Nate said, grabbing the rabbit. "Really? How'd you get over it?" Parker asked. "Here, Parker." Nate said, handing the rabbit to Parker. "I locked myself in a woodshed behind my house for a couple of nights. After that, I was fine." Eliot said, joining the team in a circle, looking at the various tricks. Parker handed the rabbit to Hardison. "That is so funny. I was scared of the dark and did exactly the same thing." Parker said. Parker said she was buried alive in a yard.</p><p>Kaira couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not. "That's not the same thing." Eliot said, shocked. "What's wrong with you?" Eliot asked. Sophie started walking over to Nate. "So, you - you - you're actually enjoying this." Sophie questioned Nate. "Oh, you know, being a magician, it's the next best thing to being a con artist. You know, it's all about misdirection and control." Nate explained. "So, uh, no one actually told you that you can't control life?" Sophie questioned. Nate laughed as he was getting stuff from the box. "You see, this is why you're not in a relationship." Sophie said. Kaira groaned and walked over. "Sophie, stop with the whole Nate getting a date thing. It's up to him if he wants to get a date or not." Kaira quipped, then continued getting stuff ready. "No, Sophie, I'm just very focused on my work right now, you know? I was out of control before. Now I'm in control. It's a good thing." Nate explained. "So, what you're doing is trading one addiction for another." Sophie said, moving the birdcage. Eliot walked up to Nate and Kaira. "Hey, man, do you know how to do this magic stuff?" Eliot asked Nate. "Oh, no, absolutely. Positively. Yeah. No, it's all about... the rabbit. You know, having - by the way, where's-" Nate started looking around as Eliot pointed to Hardison behind him. Nate walked over to Hardison. "Hardison, let's go over the plan." Nate said as Eliot shut the door to the big box. Kaira stood my Hardison. "Okay, the show opens with our friend Erik Casten delivering the "State of the Company" speech. The speech is scheduled to last an hour, giving myself, Eliot, Kaira, and Parker enough time to go down to the server room, hack the servers, download the report, and get back downstairs." Hardison explained the plan. "So, massively, there will be no magic show." Sophie said. "Oh, no, there might be a magic show. No, absolutely. We might want to treat these people to the illusionist extraordinaire, right?" Nate said, causing a smile from Eliot and Kaira. "Yeah, you, um, you really do need a girlfriend." Sophie said, unamused. "No, all I need is the... is the rabbit." Nate said. Eliot and Kaira looked at Hardison. "Yeah. H-Hardison." Eliot said, gesturing to Hardison. "Hmm?" Hardison breathed. "Have the rabbit?" Eliot asked. Hardison was holding the hat. "It's a real magic hat, man." Hardison said. "Where's the rabbit?" Nate asked. Kaira had an "oh shit" face as the team looked around. "I thought you had it." Sophie said to Hardison. "Come on, fan out. Fan out. Let's find the rabbit." Nate said, causing the team to split. Kaira turned around and went with Eliot. "Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot exclaimed, angry. They searched for the rabbit.</p><p>After a while, they stopped searching and got the stage ready for Nate and Parker. The crowd has started forming, and Nate was hiding backstage with Sophie in the crowd. "Sophie, you're on." Nate said. Sophie went up to Mr. Price. "Mr. Price. Nell Carver." Sophie introduced herself. "Hi, Nell." Mr. Price said. "Yeah, I-I we - met earlier, actually. I work with Harry." Sophie said. "Oh, the - the magician." Mr. Price said. "Yeah, that's right. So, listen, um, there's this little thing. When Harry does these - these corporate gigs, you know, he likes to work in a few little tidbits about the employees, you know, just funny little things. I knew you'd want to help. I wondered if I could just scribble down a couple of things." Sophie said as Mr. Price started talking about an employee and his coffee addiction. Hardison, Eliot, Kaira, and Parker walked into a hallway and turned left to go to the elevators. "I thought you said you had to have a corporate I.D badge to get in the elevator." Eliot said. "We do. We actually need one from a top executive." Hardison explained. "Where are we gonna get that?" Parker asked. "Sophie's sending one to me right now -by magic." Hardison said. He walked to the elevator and plugged his phone into the card reader. "See, Sophie's smartphone is picking up the RFID signal from the big boss's I.D. All she had to do was cozy up next to him and..." Hardison said as the elevator chimed. Eliot and Karia saw security walking up to them. Eliot whispered for them to go as they piled in the elevator. "You picked his pockets without actually stealing anything? Cool." Parker complimented. "It's what I do. A man. A phone. No limits." Hardison said. The security passed by just as the door shut. "How about "a man. A phone. No action"?" Eliot chuckled as Kaira tried not to chuckle and Parker laughed. "Come on, man, you left that out there like a hanging curveball." Eliot quipped as Parker handed him the case.</p><p>They got ready to send Parker up. Sophie and Nate were still on the stage, listening to Erik Casten talk. Eliot boosted Parker up to the top of the elevator shaft. It was a second before Sophie and Nate spoke. "Oh, it's you. Hey, you're on." Sophie said. "Parker, I need my assistant now!" Nate exclaimed, quietly. "Yeah. Speaking of that - how come Parker gets to be the assistant?" Sophie asked Nate as Hardison tried to get Sophie's attention. "Sophie. Sophie. How come Nate gets to be the magician? I do card tricks, too. I do great card tricks." Hardison said. "Can we talk about this later?" Nate asked as Sophie talked. "Yeah, exactly. That's what I was just saying!" Sophie exclaimed. "Does anybody want to do my job? Huh? I get punched and kicked." Eliot quipped as Sophie spoke. "I just think that if it was me, we'd be better off -" Sophie was saying with Nate going up on stage. "Anybody want my job? I got to watch all you idiots asses." Kaira quipped. The team then went silent as Nate started his thing to stall for Parker's entrance. Parker dropped the rope down. "What am I suppose to do with that?" Hardison asked, looking at Parker. "Hook it to something, dumbass." Kaira quipped looking at Hardison. "Ain't nothing to hook it to." Hardison said to Kaira. Hardison bent over and Eliot grabbed the rope and attached the carabiner to Hardison's pants. Hardison then shot up, after Parker was heard falling and boards breaking. Nate introduced her to the crowd. Eliot and Kaira started chucking. "Wow." Eliot said. Kaira looked over as Nate told Parker to wave and say hi. Kaira pointed to the railing. "Baby, you could've put it on the railing." Kaira said. "My bad." Eliot chuckled. "How am I supposed to get down?" Hardison asked, stuck on the roof. Kaira heard the rope go slack and Hardison fell on his front, laying on the ground, groaning. "Really, man... you didn't see that coming?" Eliot asked Hardison. "Not funny. Not funny." Hardison said, getting his breath. Kaira helped him up.</p><p>They exited the elevator once Hardison composed himself and walked to the server room door. Hardison was hacking into the card swipe so they could get through. Eliot and Kaira were on watch. "How long is this gonna take?" Eliot asked. "As long as it has to take. You know, I was just pulled up to the ceiling of an elevator by my pants, so do not take that tone with me." Hardison said, not having it. They heard the elevator chime and went to hide. They rounded the corner. Hardison poked his head out to see what was happening, but Eliot pulled him back and then rounded the corner again, hiding. "It's Casten. What the hell's he doing in the server room?" Eliot asked. Kaira groaned as Hardison started typing on his phone. "Let's find out." Hardison said. "What are you doing?" Kaira asked. "All the employee phones in this building are hooked up to the internal wi-fi. You remember the Trojan phone? It works both ways. See, I can use the server to access his phone. And once I'm in, I can see through his phone's camera." Hardison explained. "You can do that?" Eliot asked. "Oh, you'd be surprised at what I can do." Hardison said. He was able to pull up the video and showed it to the couple. It showed Casten deleting the reports. "Dammit! Casten's deleting the report." Kaira reported. "Guys. You remember that bright idea we had about accessing the server room while everyone was at the show? We're not the only ones." Hardison reported as Nate asked for Parker to hurry up. "He's gonna wipe everything from the system. People are gonna die." Eliot said. Parker arrived on stage and Sophie told Nate to stall. He pretended to set up a trick. "Have to have another way to access the servers, guys." Nate whispered. "Already on it." Kaira reported. "Leigh, I need secondary access to the servers." Hardison called Leigh Jameson, walking up the stairs. "Try the junction room. It has one I.O station and be careful." Leigh said, hanging up. Hardison and Nate rounded the corner to get to the junction room. "Can you get to the server room from here?" Eliot asked. "Oh, yeah. If anything, computer systems are more vulnerable up here. The only catch is, security is way gnarlier." Hardison informed Eliot. "What about Casten?" Kaira asked. "It'll take him some time. See, he has to find and delete all the copies. We just need one." Hardison said. They approached the junction room and Kaira groaned.</p><p>"Uh, guys, I-I can't bypass the biometrics. I need a fingerprint." Hardison reported. They heard the elevator door chime, and they went underneath the computer desk and went quiet. "And it has to be somebody with pretty high clearance." Hardison said. Eliot shushed him as security went by. "I'm on it." Sophie said. She went up to Mr. Price and told him to come on stage. He did and Nate sold the bit. Nate had Mr. Price hold onto a phone that scanned the fingerprint and sent it to Hardison to print out. He had pulled out a tiny printer as Kaira laid in front of Eliot. He played with her hair and used his other hand to lay his head-on. After he was done playing with her hair, he moved his hand down to her waist. The machine printed out the fingerprint. Hardison grabbed it and showed it to the couple. "Abracadabra" Hardison said. Nate finished with Mr. Price as Hardison and the couple went up to the door again. Hardison put the fingerprint on the scanner, but it was denied. "What?" Eliot questioned, seeing Hardison's face. "It's not optical. They're using active capacitance. See, what happens is, it measures the change in voltage across the microridges of the-" Hardison was explaining before Eliot interrupted. "Can you get in or not? Eliot asked Hardison, annoyed. "You..." Hardison dug in his bag and started humming. He pulled out a gummy frog and ate one and another and put the fingerprint on it. "Gummy frogs?" Kaira and Eliot questioned. "Mm-hmm. Gummy frogs have the same resistance as human skin - about 20 milliohms." Hardison explained as he placed the print on the scanner and moved it in a circle. It accepted. "What'd I say? That's a low tech hack right there." Hardison said as Eliot and Kaira smiled. "It's just a piece of ca-" Hardison said as a buzz was heard. The system chimed and scanned Hardison's face. "There may also be a retinal scanner." Hardison reported. All three of them had a not happy demeter. "Retinas? How am I gonna get his retinas?" Nate whispered. "Well, a proper assistant would know the answer to that." Sophie said. Nate told them to hold on and got Mr. Price in the box of mystery. Nate sold the crowd while Sophie wheeled him up to the elevator. "I don't see why I wasn't the assistant. Well, why wasn't I? "Abracadabra." I could do that. It's all yours." Sophie said. Kaira and Eliot walked over to the elevator and grabbed Mr. Price. They wheeled him over and moved him in front of the retina scanner with some complaining from the boys.</p><p>Eliot ducked and Hardison opened the door and Eliot blinded him with a flashlight. Once the scan was done, Kaira slammed the door shut and locked it. "Doing a hell of a job, man. You're killin' 'em out there!" Eliot exclaimed to sell the bit. Hardison snuck in the junction room and Eliot and Kaira wheeled him back to the elevator. They got in the elevator. Hardison then started yelling no. "We're too late. They're all gone. Casten deleted all copies of the report. The elevator started going down. "Uh-oh." Hardison said. "Uh-oh?" Eliot questioned. "What do you mean, uh-oh?" Kaira questioned. Just then the elevator opened up and a couple of security guards told Eliot and Karia to step out of the elevator. "Oh, that uh-oh." Eliot whispered. The blond security guard told them to leave again. Kaira and Eliot said no. The door then started to shut, causing the guard to move to open the door, causing Eliot to grab him and start fighting. Kaira then pulled the black-haired security guard in and punched him, playing shuffleboard with Eliot and Kaira dodging kicks and punches. Eliot got his guy taken down, and took on the black-haired one. He kept trying to punch them both, and the couple expertly blocked him. The guard went to kick Eliot, who grabbed his foot and Kaira punched him, sending him to the far wall, and Eliot and Kaira grunted as they pushed the box on him. "Hey, Nate. You know that trick where you make the guy disappear from a locked room? I could really use that right now." Hardison said as Nate and Parker sold another trick. Eliot and Kaira were still pushing the box. Eliot and the security guy exchanged jabs, then Eliot blocked him and leaped forward, knocking him out with his elbow. The door opened and the couple left, leaving a confused Mr. Price in the box. "Show's over, Nathan. We're blown." Kaira reported, signaling for Nate to finish up before the security showed up as they walked past Sophie. "Ew. Nate, bring down the curtain now." Sophie said, joining Eliot and Kaira as they walked away.</p><p>After a bit, Hardison came on comms. "Thank god. This, it turns out, is not the men's room. But y'all should really have signs up and down the hallways, cause I've been stuck in here for about an hour, man. Ironic, I know, because of the whole magic, but see, I build tthe magic trick, my man does them." Hardison tried to get out of it. "The drive." Casten said. "The - I'm s- the, uh - I don't drive." Hardison played dumb. Kaira groaned as she knew Hardison was caught. "That drive. Oh, okay. I see what you-" Hardison said before getting punched. Parker brought out the curtain and Nate told the crowd to count with them. Parker asked Nate if the trick would work. Nate said there was a 50-50 chance. "Where is the rest of your team?" Markland asked Hardison. "I don't even know what you're talking about, man." Hardison said. Kaira heard Nate and Parker make their escape and met them upfront as Hardison had his phone taken. "Magic tricks?" Casten questioned. "Hey, man, you - you lookin' at all my stu - that's all my business. You know what? You, sir, should expect a very strongly worded letter from the magicians local 77." Hardison said. "The labels on frozen dinners say heat to 161 degrees. That kills the bacteria. It's on the package." Hardison then started grunting from being choked. "The world is a very dangerous place for people who can't follow simple instructions." Casten continued. "I'm sorry. They're outside in the gray van." Hardison said.</p><p>He got walked out after complaining more, saying he had asthmatic tendencies. Kaira watched as Parker lifted Casten's phone and walked it to Nate. He called Markland as Kaira sat next to him. "I don't see a van. You have five seconds to tell me what's really going on here." Casten threatened Hardison. "Do I? Really? Okay." Hardison said as a Markland's phone rang. "You're a little strong-arm, ain't you?I blogged your website about that. The Lillian Foods website." Hardison said cockily as Markland looked at his phone. "Did you pocket dial me?" Markland asked Casten. "What?" Casten questioned, feeling his pocket. He grabbed the phone and answered it. "Who the hell is this?" Casten answered the phone. "The secret of magic is misdirection, Mr. Casten." Nate said. "The magician? What are you doing on my phone?" Casten asked. "Misdirection. So, you went after the incriminating reports." Nate said. "And I deleted it. Every copy." Casten said. "Absolutely. But you know, I don't think all that security is in place just to protect those reports. Do you? I mean, uh... what's really valuable on those servers? Hmm." Nate said. Kaira remembered hearing Nate asking for the food patents when Hardison was still in the junction room. "Yes, I had my assistant download them." Nate said. "Magician, thief, whatever. We have your man and his hard drive. You never got the patents out of the building." Casten said. Kaira grabbed the phone. "No, no. You got the patents out of the building. All we had to do was pick up your phone." Kaira said. "The magician's daughter." Casten said. "Yes. And you have my friend. I don't like it when people hold my friends hostage." Kaira said, almost threateningly. "What are you gonna do?" Casten questioned Kaira, almost daring her. "By what I'm told, those patents represent hundreds of millions of dollars of your company's present and future earnings. All on your cell phone, which my partner here lifted. All downloaded when you were in the server room alone." Kaira said. Nate grabbed the phone. "I wouldn't want to be caught in that act. Would you? Huh, Mr. Casten?" Nate said. "What do you want?" Casten asked. "Well, first, I'd like you to let my friend go. Next, you'll pull the entire frozen-foods line from the market." Nate said. "You have to be kidding me! Do you understand how much that'll cost the company?" Casten exclaimed, not happy. "Yes, well, we're sending a specialist to help with the recall." Nate said as Kaira saw Leigh Jameson arrive from inside with Mr. Price. "You'll also issue a formal apology." Leigh said. "Along with your letter of resignation. You know what? They had me in a box! Get him upstairs! Clear out his office right now!" Mr. Price exclaimed at Casten, not happy. "Now, why don't we give the lady a nice round of applause?" Nate said. tossed the phone to Parker, who caught it, looking like she was bowing. Kaira and Nate stood up, joining arms with Parker as they walked away.</p><p>They met back up at the office and had leftover Chinese. Hardison was showing Parker a card trick. Eliot had grabbed the leftover container and held it up. "I'm finishing off the kung pao." Eliot said as Kaira grabbed some noodles she had leftover. "Okay, yeah, I got three possible clients to research! Just want to finish." Nate called out at the screen, not even looking at Eliot, Kaira, and Sophie at the table as Kaira and Eliot stood side by side at the table, eating. "I've got an idea. Listen, why don't you give Dr. Jameson a ring?" Sophie suggested to Nate. "I'm working. Working over here." Nate said. Hardison looked over at them and shook his head as he told Parker to put the card back in and redid the trick. Eliot and Kaira sensed the look Sophie had. "What? He's fine." Eliot comforted Sophie. "We practically had to beg him to come back, Soph. He's not drinking. He's at the top of his game." Kaira said. "I got to be honest with you. I can't believe we pulled this one off." Eliot said, going off of what Kaira said. "Well, that's the problem. He keeps winning. And every time he wins, he believes a little bit more that he can control... life." Sophie said, worried about Nate. "It's what gets him through the day." Eliot said, not sure of the problem. "What happens when he loses? Last time he lost, it broke him. He breaks again, I don't think even we could pick up the pieces." Sophie said. Kaira sighed reluctantly as she kept eating, watching as Nate did his research. Kaira knew Sophie had a point. She loved Nate like a father, and she knew if Nate broke again, she couldn't put him back together again. But that doesn't mean she wasn't going to try like hell.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Now, this next chapter is gonna be a good one! I'll be introducing a new character. Stay tuned! As always, much love to you all &lt;3 Stay Safe<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. The Two Live Crew Job (2x7)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Leverage crew has to deal with another crew with similar abilities while stealing a painting belonging to their client. One of the team members... is Kaira's ex-boyfriend from High School. His name is Brian Galileo. With her ex in the mix, will Kaira be able to keep her cool? How will Eliot and the team react to some surprising knowledge Kaira shares?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! So, as I said in the last chapter, I have something special planned for this chapter. As the summary revealed, I am introducing Brian Galileo, who is Kaira's ex-boyfriend. His description is below. Enjoy this chapter! Without further adieu, here is chapter 7 of Season 2!</p><p>Brian's Description- Race: Irish; Ethnicity: White; Hair color: darker brown, almost black; Height: 5ft 9in; Occupation: jack of trades; Distinguishing marks: A cross tattoo on his arm and a cross necklace he wears</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot got called in for another job. This one was a bit interesting. Once they arrived, Hardison and Nate filled them in. A brother and sister are trying to find a painting that belonged to their father before he died during WW2 trying to smuggle it out. They arrived at the marks office as policemen. They walked into the building. "Montgraft and Associates. One moment." The secretary said before looking at the team. "Can I help you?" She asked. They stopped for a moment. "Speak to the boss." Hardison said as the quartet continued walking as Nate and Sophie walked in as the big bosses. "Yeah, uh, Detective, uh, Marlowe. This is Detective Archer." Nate introduced them. The team kept walking to the elevator to get to the office. They rounded the corner as Nate and Sophie distracted the secretary. "I don't like this going through the wrong office. It feels like cheating." Parker commented. "North is one of those guys who has the latest everything, including security. His office is one big mousetrap." Hardison explained. They walked into the room next door. "What, so instead we don't even try? That's weak." Parker complained as Karia and Eliot kicked in the door. They walked in and started getting to work. "This is it. The Klimt is behind the wall right here." Hardison said, banging on the wall where the spot was. They were setting up the thing to break through the wall. "I can't be that hard." Parker said, walking to Hardison at the wall. He took of his glasses and looked at Parker. "Are you crazy? The man has a PDX-500 rotating encryption system. Rotating. Do you even know what that is? Some other crew might be crazy enough to tackle that system head-on, but it's an impossible hack. They would have to tap the network directly from a terminal inside the office. Even if they did get into the system, they would only have three minutes of access time before the encryption program resets itself and locks them out." Hardison explained as they continued getting ready. Parker placed the suction cups on the wall to take off the chunk of the wall to get the painting. "I still think I could get in." Parker said as Eliot went to work cutting the wall. "You're good, but nobody's that good. Even you, Kaira." Hardison said. Kaira sighed. While she hated to admit it, he was right. This security system was intense. "In and out in under three minutes is tricky as it is, but with the pressure-sensitive floor and thermal detectors that are on a totally different system, it's impossible." Kaira explained. "Mm-hmm. I guess cheating has its advantages." Parker said. Eliot handed the saw to Hardison. As Kaira moved in to help pull the wall off. "It's easier to hack a wall than a high-tech security system." Hardison said. Kaira and Eliot grunted as they pulled out the section of wall. "And now the Klimt is ours." Eliot said. Kaira and Eliot sat down the piece of wall and looked at it. Kaira saw Hardison's and Parker's disapproving face. She and Eliot looked at the painting. "Son of a bitch!" Kaira exclaimed, upset. The painting was not a Klimt. It was dogs playing poker. None of them were happy. Kaira and Eliot got to work to replace the wall and walked out. "Nathan, we have problems." Kaira reported in the comm. "At least we got a painting." Parker said as Sophie and Nate walked past them. "Maybe they won't notice the difference." Hardison said. "Dogs playing poker? Seriously?" Sophie said.</p><p>They met back up at the office and sat down at a table in the bar to figure out what was happening. "Maybe he saw the magazine photo and spooked." Parker suggested. "Parker, the man bought Holocaust art on the black market and showed it off in his office. I don't think he'd care if someone saw it." Kaira retorted, sipping her beer to calm down. "Guys, just a minute, all right? We got beat. Somebody beat us to the punch." Eliot said. Just then Nate walked in, not happy. "So I just got off the phone with our clients. Told them we couldn't recover their dead father's painting. Anyone want to explain why?" Nate said, sitting down at the table. He noticed the absence of Sophie, who had yet to return after telling the gang she was gonna run an errand before meeting them. "Where's Sophie?" Nate asked. "I'm on it." Eliot said. getting out his phone. "Nazis. Maybe they want the stuff back that they stole. You know? Secret Nazis." Parker suggested. The team dismissed the idea. "It's going to voicemail. I'm gonna try comms." Eliot said. "Someone crazy enough to deal with that security." Karia suggested as Eliot got on comms. "Sophie? So - hey. Nate wants to know why you - I'd say that's a very good reason." Eliot said. Kaira noticed the change in expression and got worried. Kaira got up and ran to the vehicles as everyone else followed. Eliot explained what Sophie told him. Sophie was holding a bomb.</p><p>They arrived at her apartment and ran into her living room. "How are you doing?" Nate asked Sophie as Kaira went around front, seeing the bomb inside the vase of white flowers she was holding. "Oh, you know." Sophie said, her voice shaky. The team barely moved just in case. Eliot and Parker also looked at the vase. "Yep, that's a bomb." Eliot said. "I recognize the circuit. It's motioned triggered." Hardison said. "Any sudden movement is gonna cause displacement of the water. That will go off. So none one move and tread very very lightly." Kaira said, trying to stay calm. "Is that C-4?" Parker asked going to touch the vase, causing Nate to grab her hand. "Oh! Parker... please don't poke at the motion-sensitive bomb." Sophie said, worried. Parker said sorry. Kaira was still analyzing the circuit. She thought she recognized the handiwork, but kept silent at the moment. She analyzed and was thinking of a way to defuse the bomb. "So, uh... secret admirer?" Nate asked Sophie. "Well, it's no secret they want me dead." Sophie said. "What do you think, man?" Hardison asked the couple. Eliot and Kaira looked at each other. "If I could reach down into the vase and disarm it, I could. But with it being motion-sensitive, it's too great of a risk." Kaira said. The team looked at her curiously. "I took a course on bomb-defusing in the army." Kaira explained. "It'd go off." Eliot summed up. "Well, let's not do that, then." Hardison said. Kaira realized what she could do to disarm the bomb. "Soph, this is gonna sound strange, but I promise there's a reason behind it. Do you have any instant pudding or jello? Or something that contains sodium polyacrylate? Like gel or soap? Medical bandages?" Kaira asked Sophie. He looked at Kaira like she was crazy. "I believe I have some instant pudding in the cupboard," Sophie said. Kaira grabbed the instant pudding and went back and started pouring it in. "Instant pudding will harden the water, making it so the trigger won't move around as much. Also, sodium polyacrylate is a type of salt that absorbs water, making a gel-like substance. It's in diapers, and an additive in concrete and some soaps and hair gels. And medical bandages." Kaira explained, standing back up. "Sorry. Ranting calms me down." Kaira half-smiled. "This should give you some wiggle room. Very little wiggle room." Kaira explained. "What's the plan, kiddo?" Nate asked Kaira. Kaira looked at Sophie. "How fast can you run?" Kaira asked. Sophie's face showed fear. "All right. Everybody get out of here right now." Sophie ordered quietly. "I'm gonna stay. I'm gonna stay with Sophie, all right?" Nate said. "We're not leaving you, Sophie." Hardison agreed with Nate. "Look, I appreciate what you guys are trying to do, but just - if you don't get out of here now, then - then I'm going to kill you myself when this is over. So just..." Sophie exhaled to calm down. Kaira was nervous. "Just get out!" Sophie yelled. The team nodded. Kaira looked at her. "I'm sorry, Sophie. I wish there was more that I could do." Kaira said, getting emotional. "It's okay, darling." Sophie half-smiled. "You're gonna walk me down the aisle, Soph." Kaira chuckled bittersweetly. Sophie did the same. The team started leaving. "Remember, hold it up, then drop. Do not throw. Drop." Kaira explained, exhaling before leaving with the team, minus Nate. She walked around the corner and waited. Eliot hugging her to protect her and calm her down. Then Nate showed up and was at the door. She saw Sophie running, then the bomb exploded.</p><p>The funeral was the next day. Eliot and Kaira were up at the podium, starting their speech, wearing black and Eliot a hat. "She had a way of taking care of people, you know? She was a sister... she was a best friend... all rolled into one. I'm gonna miss you, Soph - so-o-o-o-o much, Katherine." Eliot said, before moving so Kaira could speak. "Katherine was like a mother to me. When we first met, it was Chicago. She took me under her wing and taught me what she knew about acting. I can't thank her enough for what she did for me. You know, I asked her to walk me down the aisle when I got married. Though, I'm sure she will in spirit." Kaira said, tearing up some and yet smiling. "I just can't believe it. We were just talking, then... she's just gone." Kaira finished and joined Eliot with Nate at the back. Eliot put his arm around Kaira and held her. Parker went up. "Katherine and I have known each other forever. Almost two years. Yeah, I know that probably doesn't sound like a lot to you, but it is to me. I never had many friends. Which is why losing her is so hard." Parker said, not really showing emotion, but yet truthful. Parker exhaled. "It's so creepy. I mean, she's really dead. I was just talking to her and now she's just laying there." Parker said. She then went a little weird and Hardison coughed and got her away from the podium and spoke. "I'm - I'm sorry. I'm sorry, y'all. What - what she means is just, um, Katherine was like family. And sometimes friends are all the family that you have." Hardison said as he got Parker away from the podium. "See any suspects?" Eliot asked Nate. "No one jumps out at me." Nate said. "Me neither." Eliot said. "Yeah. You'd think if you go to the lengths to kill a Sophie Devereaux, you'd make sure the job was finished." Kaira whispered. Nate then left and walked to the front, stopping in front of Sophie's casket. He looked at her a bit then closed the lid. and tapped it a few times. Kaira scanned for potential suspects. Nate did his thing and then they started to lay the casket in the ground. She stood by Nate, holding his arm along with Parker and Hardison. They left, and so did Kaira. She went up to Eliot and held his arm. Sophie went up behind Nate, scaring him. Kaira could tell by the body language, he was not happy whatsoever. As Sophie left to hide, a man walked up to Nate. Kaira scanned his and Nate's body language as the Clergyman started his prayer. The man who approached Nate was a bit older than Nate. He had on a light black suit jacket and a blue undershirt and tie. The body language by all three of them suggested to Kaira that he knew who Sophie really was. They left and went back to the apartment.</p><p>Kaira changed and grabbed a beer with Eliot. Kaira hated funerals. She opened the refrigerator and Eliot stopped her before she shut it. "Hey, Princess." Eliot smiled at her. "Hey, Cowboy." Kaira smiled at him. "You don't like funerals, do you?" Eliot asked Kaira. "No, I do not. The last funeral I went to was my parent's funeral. The only ones who showed up were me and an uncle. He took me in after. I just remember crying the whole damn time. I mean, I was an orphan basically. I had lost my sister, and then my parents. It sucked, but I managed in the end I think." Kaira explained, drinking the beer to calm her down. Eliot hugged her. "You know Sophie's funeral wasn't real, right?" Eliot asked, sympathetically. "Yes. Still doesn't mean I liked it." Kaira said, leaving as Eliot grabbed a beer. They walked into the living room and saw Hardison at the island looking at his laptop and Sophie at the couch as Nate walked by the screens. "What are you doing?" Eliot asked, walking up to Hardison with Kaira. "Security camera footage from Sophie's apartment. Trying to see who delivered the bomb, but with nothing for reference, facial recognition can't narrow it down." Hardison explained. "No need. I know exactly who's to blame." Sophie said. The team walked over to the couch in front of the screens as Sophie pulled up photos. Kaira recognized the guy as the same one who showed up to the funeral. "Marcus Starke. Brilliant grifter, even better forger." Sophie explained as the team sat down, though Nate was at the screens. Eliot hopped over the back of the couch and sat down, and Kaira went around and sat down next to him, sipping their beers. "Stop it." Sophie scolded Parker, who was staring at her. "It's like you're haunting us." Parker said. "Parker, I'm not really dead." Sophie said as Parker touched Sophie's leg. "I'm not dead!" Sophie said, causing Parker to lean back and look at the screen. "We used to work together. We did the Copenhagen job in '97, the Berlin Polytech job in '98, and, Nate, remember - remember that great run in Moscow?" Sophie said. "That great run? I chased you for three months." Nate said. Kaira had forgotten until now that Nate used to chase all of them. How things have changed since. "Well, uh, technically, you chased us. Sorry." Sophie said. The team looked surprised. "A-are you saying that you saw other teams before us?" Hardison questioned. Kaira smiled a tad in amusement. "Really, just another Nate before Nate." Parker said. "Let me ask you a question - what bugs you more, is it that he was Sophie's first or that he outsmarted you?" Eliot asked, leaning back. Nate looked at Eliot, causing Kaira to try not to laugh.</p><p>"Why are you guys making it sound like she cheated on us? It's not that big of a deal. I'm just more upset that we got outsmarted." Kaira said. "Moving on." Nate looked at Sophie, unamused. "Um, Starke doesn't keep a permanent crew. He specializes in whiz mobs. He puts a team together, they slam into town for one high-profile job, and then they scatter. But usually, they do one sm -" Sophie was explaining before having a lightbulb moment. "They do one smaller job first just to work out the kinks in the team." Sophie explained. "Like our client's paining, for example." Nate said. "Wrong place, wrong time. Starke must have seen me, and now that I'm one of the good guys, decided to get rid of me, because... why? Because... because I know his scams. Because I know his favorite scam. The Mona Lisa variant." Sophie explained before Parker got excited, clapping twice. "That was the first one I learned. In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen. And the con man who did it made six identical copies." Parker said the con. "And then they put them on the black market, and each buyer thought that they had the original." Nate finished explaining. "So dude sold the same painting six times." Hardison said, wrapping his head around the con. "Yep." Nate confirmed. "Hardison, pull up all the auctions in Boston in the next two days. Starke never stays in a city more than two days." Sophie explained, throwing Hardison the remote. "Wait a minute. Not - not museums?" Eliot questioned. "No, no. Starke likes to use auctions to figure out who wants the painting. He picks who he's gonna sell the fakes to." Nate explained as Hardison pulled up the paintings up for auction. "That bit was actually my part of the scam. I made that up. It's good, isn't it?" Sophie said. Nate nodded his head no. "That's still a lot of paintings, Soph." Kaira pointed out. "Yeah, it's high profile. A scam like this requires a lot of publicity, paintings 10 million or more." Nate explained as Hardison eliminated some paintings. "He does all his own forgeries - post-impressionists, late 1800s." Sophie explained as Hardison eliminated the rest of the paintings, leaving just one. "There. That's it. Van Gogh. He has a soft spot for Van Gogh." Sophie explained, giving the target painting. "So we just - we call the cops. We have them show up." Hardison said. "No. Starke goes down for this, there's no guarantee we can get that painting back for the Mercers. He even smells the police, and he's gonna run, and we'll get nowhere near it." Sophie said. "He did try to kill you, Sophie." Nate said. Sophie composed herself. "We risk our lives all the time. I... No. We need to barter. We need something to trade for the Mercers painting." Sophie realized. "Such as?" Hardison asked. "That." Kaira said, implying the painting. "Kaira's right." Sophie stood up. "That's what he's come for. That's what he wants." Sophie said, walking to the screens. "We just got to get there first." Nate said. They made a plan and went to the auction.</p><p>Nate was a guest, Parker a waiter, Hardison was in the van with Sophie, Eliot was on patrol, and Kaira was also on patrol, but at the opposite end. "Okay, Parker, talk to me." Nate said on comms. "Present." Parker said. "How we doing? What's going on security wise at this place? Huh?" Nate asked, a little cocky. "Well... the usual countermeasures. Nothing we can't handle." Parker said. Eliot and Kaira drunk the champagne as they walked away to start patrol. "I wish Sophie was here. She's the one who likes to play all this dress-up stuff." Eliot said, walking to Parker with Kaira. "I miss her." Parker said. "I'm not dead. I'm right here, Parker." Sophie said. Kaira chuckled as she went to do her rounds. "So, this is, um... it's what you do, right? You take - take footage of us on cons and you - you - you - download it into that?" Sophie asked Hardison. "Yeah, I analyze it, I monitor comms, I scan for all police frequencies, I - you had no idea I do all this, did you?" Hardison asked Sophie. "Well-" Sophie said, confirming to Hardison what he said. "Does nobody respect the van? The van is important. What - what is that?" Hardison said. "I respect the van." Kaira quipped. "It's lemon-zest tea. I got to tell you, it's - it's a little bit - it's a little bit whiffy in here." Sophie complained. Kaira was kinda amused. "It smells like hard work. That's what it smells like. D- whiffy." Hardison argued. "Okay, guys, I've got the auction-house manager insight. Uh, now if you take his wallet and badge, it should be a cakewalk." Nate said. "Eliot, check out the back corridor. I think I see an access point. Kaira, check the east corridor." Hardison said. "Already on it, Hardison." Kaira said, continuing her walkthrough. "That was some nice things you said at my funeral." Sophie said to Hardison. "We - we trust Nate to make sure the plan works. We trust you to make sure we're all okay." Hardison said before Kaira heard static on the comms. "Got the badge. Just need to get the wallet." Parker said before Kaira heard her huffing. Kaira got nervous. She knew the team was about to be made if they hadn't already. Hardison tried to figure out the source of the static.</p><p>"Switching to backup comm frequencies. Eliot, Kaira, they're here. They're here." Hardison reported. Kaira stopped and looked at the reflection in the glass. "Hardison, what do you mean? Who's-" Nate was saying before Starke cut him off. Kaira recognized the reflection of the figure on the glass cage of a statue from long ago. "Hello, Brian." Kaira turned around. Kaira had tuned out the comm commotion between Nate and Starke. "Hey, Kaira." Brian said with a slight Irish accent, cocking his head. Kaira put her hand up to her ear and muted to comm, acting like she was putting a piece of hair back. They walked up to each other. "I thought you were running daddies business." Kaira said. "Not yet. You know how my family is. Why aren't you running your uncle's business?" Brian asked. "I got out of that business a long time ago, Brian." Kaira answered. "So, what do you do now?" Brian asked. "Theft." Kaira answered. "Nice. So you went into crime after all." Brian answered. "Well, I sorta took a detour. Much more fun." Kaira answered, teasing. "Why are you here, Brian? I thought daddy gave you an allowance." Kaira taunted Brian. He smiled slightly. "My father stopped giving me money after you left. Starke asked me for help, so I accepted. What about you?" Brian asked, inching his way towards Kaira. "Helping my boss with a retrieval of sorts." Kaira answered. "Nice. So, you find anyone else?" Brian asked Kaira, almost flirtatiously. "Actually, yes. I'm engaged. And you might want to take a few steps back before I kick your ass." Kaira whispered in his face. Kaira went to walk away. "You know, Kaira, the offer is still on the table." Brian called out. "Sorry. I'll pass. I am not that woman anymore, Brian. I got a new family." Kaira left as she unmuted her comm and met with Eliot and then the team back at the office to make a plan.</p><p>She sat by Eliot, then Sophie, then Parker. Nate went into his briefing at the screens. "Okay. Now, we know Starke. This guy goes by the name Apollo. I've chased him a couple of times - infiltration, physical security." Nate said, showing Starkes and Apollo's pictures on the screen and looking at a notepad. "People in that line of high-risk work tend to be very unstable. We could use that. Write that down." Parker said, patting Eliot's leg a couple of times. Eliot sat down his notepad, giving Parker a look. "This person here is ex-Mossad, sealed records. Mikel Dayan used to work both sides as a mercenary." Hardison explained, pulling up her image. "Mikel Dayan. I know that name." Eliot said. "You were scared to fight a girl?" Hardison asked Eliot. "She'd mop the floor with you, Hardison." Eliot said. "I don't care." Hardison said, amused. "Seriously. She actually killed a guy once with a mop. It's a funny story, actually. She broke the mop and took -" Eliot said, miming the story. "Eliot. Eliot." Hardison got Eliot's attention as Kaira was impressed. "Now, there's Colin Mason, otherwise known by his hacker handle as "Chaos". As... whatever." Hardison said, mocking Chaos and pulling up his image. "Hacked the Pentagon, the NSA. The CIA computer guys call him the Kobayashi Maru." Hardison explained. The rest of the team was confused. "What the hell is that?" Eliot asked, shrugging his shoulders. "None of y'all got that? Seriously?" Hardison questioned. "Star Trek." Parker said. "Thank you." Hardison said as he and Parker kinda bumped fists. "And, we also got this guy." Hardison said, pulling up Brian's picture on the screen. Kaira stood straighter. "Kaira, you know him?" Hardison asked Kaira. "Yes. If Apollo is to Parker as Mikel Dayan is to Eliot as Starke is to Nathan, then that guy is to me." Kaira explained. She turned to face the gang. "That is Brian Galileo. Jack of trades, daddy's the Don of the Irish mob in New York and set to become the head of the family, and my ex-boyfriend." Kaira said, causing looks from everyone. "Oh, so you "knew" knew him." Hardison realized. "High school. Yes, I dated a mob guy in high school. Not my proudest moment. I have a thing for bad boys. Still do." Kaira smiled at Eliot. Eliot kind smiled back. "Wait, if he's mob, what's he doing with Starke?" Sophie asked Kaira. "In our brief interaction at the auction, he said his dad stopped giving him money. Now, the way his family works is if you're set to become the Don of the family, you have to be married so your partner can share the assets. Brian's dad was funny like that. So, Brian made me love him in order to get his spot." Kaira explained, getting shameful.</p><p>"So why did he pick you?" Eliot asked Kaira. "Because my uncle is the Don of the Italian mob in New York." Kaira revealed, her head down. "Kiddo, it's okay. You don't have to tell us any more." Nate said, trying to stop her shame. "No. It's okay." Kaira said, calming down. "Before I was in the army, my uncle and Brian's dad were in talks of a deal. The deal was that if I would agree to a contract of sorts, that not only would I become the head of our family business, Brian and I would share our resources. I declined the offer. Brian got pissed at me when I told him I didn't want the power. Let's just say it was a very bad fight. That's when I left for the army." Kaira winced at the memory of that night. She felt Eliot's arm around her and he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. Kaira calmed down and composed herself. "That's... a lot to take in." Hardison said. Kaira sighed. "I know. I just needed to say that. I don't like hiding a lot from you guys." Kaira composed herself and looked at Nate. "How's this gonna play out?" Kaira asked Sophie. Nate looked at Kaira and she nodded at him to continue. "He's been challenged, okay? His - his pride's hurt. His - his ego's at stake. He's - he's gonna - he's gonna come up with a bigger, riskier plan." Sophie said. Nate then shot up and started pacing. "Are you talking about Nate?" Eliot asked. "Nate. Yeah." Sophie said. "There's no way - there's no way this crew is gonna get to that painting before we do - no way." Nate said. "We're not giving up on our only hope of helping the Mercers. They've waited their entire lives for justice. And we're not gonna fail then now." Sophie said. "Yeah, yeah. That. Sure. Yeah. But, I mean, who does this guy this he is?" Nate questioned, pointing at the screen, obviously upset. "Marcus Starke, that's who." Parker said. Nate started pacing, taking this challenge personally. "They fooled us the first time. We didn't even know they were there. This time, we know their names, we know their M.O, we know their strengths, weaknesses." Nate explained, taking this a bit personally. "No, no, no. I have noticed a distinct lack of weaknesses." Hardison said. "I'm Brian's weakness, I know that." Kaira pointed out. "Use it. We know their target, and even better, we know their timeline. That painting's going up for auction tomorrow, and it gets sold, it walks out that door. That means they have to hit it tonight. Now, we've been working on this for a few hours. We've got to go in hot, in and out before they even -" Nate was saying. "Tripled security since today -" Eliot pointed out. "We barely had time to check out the cameras, the motion sensors." Parker pointed out. "Whatever happens, one way or another, we are walking out of that auction house tonight with that painting. No matter what. We are going to get that painting. You got it?" Nate said, getting wound up a bit. The gang said yes. "Now... let's go steal ourselves a masterpiece." Nate said, putting on his jacket and walking away. The team made a plan and left late that night to execute the plan.</p><p>Kaira got in position to execute her side of the plan. She was the lookout. She heard the team on comms. "The security cameras are spoofed. They don't see anything unless we want them to." Hardison said. "Motion sensors?" Nate questioned. "I'm still working on those." Hardison said. "Yeah. Well, work faster. Sophie, are you in position?" Nate asked. "I don't think I've driven in front of one of these before." Sophie said, starting to get ready. Nate started yelling to distract the security and Kaira got in position. She went underneath to the boiler room with Eliot and Parker. They ran until they reached their destination. Eliot let Parker into the room to go into the vents. Steam was everywhere as Eliot closed the door. Kaira gave him a peck on the lips and told him good luck as she kept hearing uh-ohs from Parker and Hardison while going to the top of the stairs and going outside. "What's going on?" Kaira asked as she saw Brian. Eliot dealt with Mikel as Kaira approached Brian. "So, what are you then? If you aren't the thief, or the hitter, or the mastermind, then what are you doing here?" Brian asked Kaira. "I'm a bit of everything, Brian. And so are you." Kaira answered. "Impressive." Brian answered, getting close to Kaira. She heard Eliot and Mikel fighting as Parker talked with Apollo about the bird used to trip the alarms and Hardison and Chaos arguing over the control of the electronics and Nate stalling Starke.</p><p>Then Hardison freaked out and Kaira heard him tell Parker to freeze. "You see, we knew what your plan was gonna be. Right now your friends are trapped in the auction house." Brian stared threateningly at Kaira. She didn't bat an eye. "Is that suppose to scare me?" Kaira questioned, nonchalantly. "Nate, he locked me out. He has total control of security." Hardison reported. Kaira didn't flinch, worrying Brian. "Parker?" Nate questioned. "Can't move." Parker said, holding her breath. "Eliot?" Kaira just heard grunting. "You all out of tricks, Nate?" Starke asked. Kaira and Brian looked at each other, processing what happened. "Shouldn't you be concerned with getting your friends out? I can make you a deal." Brian offered. "No. Because, unlike you, I trust my friends. With my life." Kaira threatened Brian. "Ouch. You know, I never stopped loving you, even after you left." Brian said, getting closer to Kaira's face, almost breathing on her. "Really? I don't." Kaira answered and punched him, causing Brian to go down. "You bitch!" Brian yelled out. "You see how it feels! That's how I felt when you told me about your little deal with my uncle and your dad. You never loved me! You used me to get power. I was young and the idea was nice, but I didn't truly want it." Then Kaira heard Sophie come on comms. "Oh, I think he had one more." Sophie said on comms. Kaira started laughing. "What's so funny?" Brian asked Kaira. "Oh, your boss knows Sophie Devereaux is alive." Kaira answered. Brian just stood in silence. Kaira motioned for Brian to be quiet and to listen. "Sophie? You're not..." Starke stumbled. "Dead, yes." Sophie said. "You went through all this just to set me up?" Starke questioned. "Mnh-mnh. No. We went through all of this to save you." Sophie revealed. Kaira started laughing again as she heard Parker go through the lasers and Hardison got the power back on in the van. "Sophie's alive? I thought that bomb killed her?" Brian questioned. Kaira smirked and could sense both Nate and Sophie's smirk. "Just wait for it." Kaira teased as she heard Eliot and Mikel end their fight and Parker and Hardison wrapping up the scene and grabbing the painting. "This is saving me how?" Starke asked. Kaira smirked at Brian. "Hardison, can Starke hear me?" Kaira asked into her comm.</p><p>"Yes. You're on." Hardison said, typing on his laptop. "Thanks." Kaira thanked Hardison. "I recognized Brian's handiwork with the circuit that was used on the bomb. At first, I didn't think anything of it. I thought you were still in New York, running daddies business. But then I ran into you at the auction house. That's when I knew you had to have made the bomb that was in Sophie's apartment. Also, you just said a bomb killed her. The official story was a gas leak. How would you know about the bomb unless you had some part in it? But it didn't make sense. Why would you want to kill Sophie Devereaux, Brian? With a little help from a thing called a security camera, Hardison was able to match you two in the footage." Kaira explained. "Two?" Starke questioned. "Colin Mason was the other person." Kaira informed Starke. "I knew that she was trouble from the second you said her name!" Colin exclaimed, angry he was caught. "Now, why would you want to kill Sophie?" Starke asked Colin. "Come on, Starke. I had set up the perfect double-cross, and then you want to bring in a new player at the last minute? "Oh, and by the way, guys, that new player is gonna be Sophie Devereaux." There's no way I'm gonna try to outcon Sophie Devereaux! And I hate to break it to you, Starke, but she was the one that everybody was scared of. It was never you." Chaos started ranting, upset his plan was foiled. "And you, Brian. What motive would you have to kill Sophie? Then I remembered you told me that daddy cut off your funds. You needed money. So Chaos said that he'd pay you handsomely if you made the bomb. And Starke wasn't going to pay you. Because you didn't just make one bomb. You made two. And, if my timing is correct, it should be going off... now." Kaira said as she heard the explosion in her comm. Brian went after Kaira, but she dodged his punch and pinned Brian to the ground. "Your crew got caught. You're plan foiled. You're done, Brian." Kaira threatened as she cuffed Brian and kept her foot on him as she changed into a cop's jacket and got him up. "Why you little sons of bitches." Starke said, not happy he was played. Hardison put the comms back to normal." Kaira ordered Hardison as she walked with Brian to the cop cars out front.</p><p>"You know, Kaira. I do still love you. If you agree to the contract and we get married, you'd be the most powerful woman in all of New York." Brian about begged. "So was that your deal, Brian? I uncuff you and we drive off into the sunset as I become a mob wife. Hell no. Plus, I already have a husband. He's better than you ever were in everything." Kaira taunted Brain as they kept walking. "Really? What does he give you that I couldn't give you?" Brian asked Kaira, offended. "How about he actually loves me. He treats me well. He's there when I have bad days. Unlike you." Kaira hissed, still not happy. "Are you still pissed about that?" Brian asked, shocked. "Hell yeah I am, you asshole. My sister died and you weren't there. My parents died, and you weren't there. You were off running daddy's business." Kaira said, pissed. Brian then stopped. "I'm sorry, okay. Give me another chance." Brian begged. "Here's the deal. I'll let you go and you run to daddy and tell him that your ex threatened you during a job you took because you were pissed you didn't have any funds and let my uncle and daddy know the contract is done, or I let you meet my husband, who will beat the shit out of you for treating me how you did. Or I could turn you into the cops upfront and you go to jail for theft and a whole lot of Rico charges and murder suspicions. Yeah. That's the thing about being friends with a hacker. He almost immediately found your record. You like making deals, don't you Brian? How does it feel to be on the receiving end of one?" Kaira hissed at Brian as she saw Eliot approach them. "Oh, Make your choice quick. Here he comes." Kaira threatened Brian as Eliot had a threatening look on his face. Brian was scared shitless as he made his choice. "Let me go! I'll talk to my dad and your uncle." Brian answered, still scared. "Good choice." Kaira said, uncuffing him. He looked at Eliot. Eliot clocking him. Brian ran off as Kaira laughed. "You really did a number on him, sweetheart." Eliot complimented, impressed, and slightly turned on. "Well, that's a disappointment I'll be glad to forget." Kaira quipped as the couple went to the squad cars and went back to the office to deliver the painting to the Mercers.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were at a booth, talking with Mikel, and Eliot and Parker, and Apollo competed to see who could pick a lock faster and Hardison was doing something. They all had beers in front of them as they talked about their battle wounds. "I can top that. Frag grenade, Somalia." Mikel said as she moved her shirt to reveal the wound on her shoulder. "Myanmar. Sniper." Eliot said, revealing his bicep wound. "I was a sniper in Myanmar for a while." Mikel revealed, leaving Eliot surprised and Kaira chuckling. "When?" Eliot asked, hoping he was wrong. "2003." Mikel revealed, with Eliot confirming what he thought. "Well, luckily I don't have many wounds. Just this one on my stomach from Chechen goons." Kaira said, standing up to reveal the wound. Mikel was impressed. Eliot looked at Kaira. "And the other one?" Eliot pointed out. Kaira chuckled as Mikel looked interested. "I have another wound. It's on the shoulder. An ex got pissed at me and attacked me." Kaira moved her shirt to reveal the shoulder wound. "Brian did that?" Eliot questioned, ready to kill someone. "Yes." Kaira revealed. "Wait. You mean the Brian on our crew?" Mikel asked. "Yep. Don't worry. I scared him enough that he'll never bother me again." Kaira said, sipping her beer. Mikel then left and it was just Eliot and Kaira. "You know, Cowboy. Mikel gave me these." Kaira pulled out the handcuffs. Eliot got flustered and grabbed her hands to put them down and hide the handcuffs. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We can't have that." Eliot said, freaking out. Then Hardison walked by. "Handcuffs. Y'all nasty." Hardison retorted, disgusted as Kaira chuckled. Kaira heard Starke giving the clients the painting. "So, when I heard this painting belonged to somebody else, I was so, uh..." Starker was saying, grabbing the painting. "Dismayed." Nate filled in. "Or, um, shocked, maybe." Sophie said for Starke. "Shocked. Uh, my associates and I just decided we had to return it." Starke said, kinda reluctantly as he handed over the painting. The woman hugged Starke and was so happy. And the brother was happy. Kaira walked up to Nate and Sophie as Starke left. "You gave Starke the fake, right?" Kaira smirked as Nate, already knowing the answer. "Yes, of course." Nate said, causing Kaira to smile. She flashed back to several hours earlier, where Apollo stole Parker's phone, and Hardison used the GPS to find the phone, which lead to the warehouse that had the fakes. The quartet had grabbed all of the paintings. Then Eliot, Hardison, and Parker walked up to them. "Thanks for letting us use the real one." Hardison said as Starke struggled to leave as people were coming in. "Yeah. I hate loose ends." Parker said. Kaira smirked as she remembered the quartet putting the paintings in a wooden crate and Hardison made a label using Chaos's name so it would appear as checked luggage. She finished her beer with Eliot then went upstairs to their apartment.</p><p>Kaira changed into her pajamas and sat at the breakfast nook and spun her engagement ring, thinking. Just then she felt a pair of arms around her and smiled as Eliot kissed her cheek. "You only do that when you're thinking about us." Eliot pointed out, sitting next to Kaira as she moved to make space for Eliot to sit. "Dammit. You know me too well." Kaira chuckled. "What's on your mind?" Eliot asked Kaira as she got an ashamed look on her face. "So, I'm about to say something that's hard to explain, so please bear with me while I try to explain." Kaira looked at Eliot, nervous. "Princess, what is it?" Eliot asked again. "So, I've been thinking, with the way our relationships progressed, we've been... cautious." Kaira explained. "Cautious?" Eliot questioned, not sure where this conversation was going. "I mean, we waited four years to get together because we were both were scared to mess up our friendship. And you waited a year to propose because you weren't sure if I would say yes." Kaira explained. Eliot looked perplexed as Kaira exhaled. "Eliot, getting married to you is the easiest decision I've ever made. And seeing Brian again, and Sophie "dying" made me think." Karia explained, using air quotes around dying. Eliot was calm but confused still. "Why don't we have our wedding in two days?" Kaira suggested a nervous smile on her face. Eliot got wide-eyed. "You want to get married in two days?" Eliot questioned. "Yes. I know I should probably wait, but with what happened, I want to do something impulsive." Kaira said, sure of her decision. Eliot thought a moment. "And getting married is your idea of impulsive?" Eliot questioned how serious she was. "I know. Not my best idea." Kaira admitted. Eliot smiled. "Let's do it." Eliot said. "What?" Kaira questioned. "Yeah. We'll tell the team tomorrow, and we can get everything in motion, then we can have our wedding the day after." Eliot said, also sure. Kaira was shocked. "You actually want to go through with this?" Kaira questioned. "Yes. We've been saying for a while now that we can't wait to get married, and you called me your husband when you were scaring Brian, so why not?" Eliot said, smiling. Kaira also smiled. "I guess I did call you my husband earlier." Kaira realized. "I wasn't even thinking, it just sounded right in my head." Kaira said, chuckling at her realization. "It didn't even bother me that you called me your husband. It sounded right to me." Eliot smiled. Kaira and Eliot looked at each other. This was the surest thing they've ever done. Kaira leaned in and kissed Eliot. Eliot cupped Kaira's face and pulled it into his face and kissed her. Kaira smiled. "I love you, Eliot." Kaira smiled at Eliot, placing a hand on his cheek. "And I love you so damn much, Kaira." Eliot said, pulling Kaira into a harder kiss. They soon moved to the bed and enjoyed each other's company.</p><p>The next day, they invited to team for breakfast. Kaira got the table ready as Eliot cooked. Just then, the team came in and talked as they ate. Soon, Kaira revealed her and Eliot's plan. "So, me and Eliot were talking last night, and we decided when we're gonna get married." Kaira revealed. They looked at her, excited. "When?" Nate asked, excited for the couple. "Tomorrow." Eliot and Kaira both said, nervous about the team's response. The team was shocked, but were excited, nonetheless. "I got a sound system I can use for music." Hardison said. "And I can call Paul up and see if he can officiate." Nate said. "Ooh, and me and Kaira can go shopping to get decorations and such." Sophie said, way too excited. Kaira chuckled. "I can come with." Parker suggested to Kaira and Sophie. "Girls day out. Ooh, how exciting!" Sophie said, happy with the plan. "And you boys can get tuxes and such ready." Kaira suggested to Eliot. Nate and Hardison agreed and they finished eating. The day was spent as planned. Kaira got her wedding dress, which was a rental as Kaira couldn't see spending the money to buy one. Sophie and Parker got bridesmaid's dresses for the big day. Eliot, Hardison, and Nate got their tuxes and Nate called Father Paul, and he agreed to come down, saying he owned Nate one for saving his church. They met back up for lunch and laughed and ate. Then they all went shopping for decorations as Hardison stayed at the office to test his sound equipment. Kaira was nervous, yet excited at the same time. She was gonna be a married woman in less than 24 hours. Eliot was too. He was about to be locked down to a woman he loved. And everyone decided this was gonna be a party they wouldn't forget.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As it was revealed, the next part that will be released will be the Kaliot wedding, as I can add more details to the moment. I'm so excited! It's gonna be a fun chapter to write! As always, remember to comment and share. Much love to you all &lt;3 Stay safe</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. The Kaliot Wedding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well... here it is! The Kaliot wedding is happening! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Without further adieu. Here is the wedding short! (also, there will be no smut, just a whole lot of fluff and possibly tears, and no drama. Just a beautiful (hopefully) wedding)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira woke up the next day after the craziness that was yesterday. She had told the team that she was gonna get married today. They had spent the whole day shopping. Today, they'd go to the reception hall and get everything set up. Kaira was so excited! She was marrying Eliot today and she couldn't be happier. She met with the team for breakfast and they made the plan. Kaira and Eliot left to go to the courthouse and the team went to the reception hall that was picked out. Kaira was nervous as she and Eliot went to the courthouse. They arrived and Eliot helped Kaira out of the car. He kissed her forehead as the couple put their arms around each other as they walked in. They got their marriage license and walked out. Kaira was smiling the whole way back to the car. So was Eliot. He looked at her lovingly as they got to the car. "You have been smiling nonstop since we signed it." Eliot pointed out, amused. Kaira smiled and chuckled. "Can you blame me? I am married to the most amazing guy I know." Kaira smiled. "I can't wait for our wedding." Eliot smiled at Kaira as he opened the passenger door for her. Kara smiled as she got in the car. Just as Kaira went to get in, she heard an old old woman's voice directed at Eliot. "It's nice to see young love." The old woman said, causing a smile on both Eliot and Kaira to creep on their faces. "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it." Eliot said. He walked around the car to the driver's side and the old woman spoke again. "It's also nice to see chivalry's not dead. I wish you, kids good fortune in your future." The old woman said a smile on her face. She walked away as Eliot opened the door and got in, chuckling. Kaira was too. "So, Eliot Spencer. Are you ready to have our wedding now?" Kaira smirked, excited for what was happening next. "Goddamn, right I am, Kaira Spencer." Eliot smiled, pulling Kaira into a kiss. Kaira let go and smiled as Eliot started the vehicle and drove off to the reception hall.</p><p>Kaira texted the group letting them know they were there to meet the new husband and wife at the reception hall. Eliot parked the car and the couple got out, walking in to unlock the door for the others. Kaira went to try the lock, but it was unlocked. Kaira was perplexed as she opened the door and walked down the hall. She found the room where the wedding was taking place and opened the door. It was also unlocked. She opened it and the lights flicked on. The team shouted, "surprise" as they revealed themselves. Everyone was laughing and the couple was surprised. The room was basically finished and tables and chairs were set up. Kaira then spotted Father Paul. He was in his ceremony outfit and walked up to Kaira and Eliot. "It's good to see you again, Father." Kaira smiled as she hugged Paul. "You too, Kaira." Paul said, letting go. He shook Eliot's hand as Kaira looked at the team who was way too happy. "Paul, you didn't have to come all this way, you know." Kaira said. "It's no problem. I owed you one for saving my church. When Nate called me saying you and Eliot were getting married and needed someone to officiate, I flew down as quickly as I could." Paul said, giving a slight smile to the couple. "Thank you, Father Paul." Kaira said. "Yes, thank you." Eliot said. The couple then went back into the kitchen that was attached and started cooking the food for the meal that would happen after the ceremony as the rest of the team finished setting up the reception hall. After a couple of hours, Kaira and Eliot had the food done and the reception hall was decorated. Kaira and Eliot went to their respective dressing rooms and everyone got dressed. Kaira got on her wedding dress, which was rented for the night. Then she put on her heels as Sophie knocked on the door, offering to help with her hair and makeup. Kaira sat down at the mirror and Sophie put her hair in a half ponytail and curled it. Kaira did her own makeup as Sophie went to get Parker ready. The whole time Kaira was getting her makeup on, she was nervous. This was the biggest day of her life. She knew her parents and Kasey would be so proud of her. Kaira smiled and composed herself as she got ready for the ceremony, putting on her veil. Kaira waited as Paul, Eliot, and Hardison and Parker walked out. Kaira then waited at the door to walk down the aisle.</p><p>She grabbed both Nate's and Sophie's arms, holding her bouquet of flowers in front of her. Kaira nodded to Nate and Sophie that she was ready and they started walking. Hardison had the bridal waltz low and Kaira was shaky from nerves. Eliot had the biggest smile on his face as he saw his wife walking towards him. Kaira saw how handsome Eliot was in his suit and bowtie. She walked up to the altar and Kaira hugged both Nathan and Sophie. "Thank you." Kaira whispered. "You're welcome, kiddo." Nate whispered with a smile on his face. Sophie did the same as she joined the line Eliot had behind him and Nate went behind Parker, who was behind Kaira. Kaira stood in front of Eliot, facing each other. He removed her veil, mouthing hi at her. Kaira mouthed hi back with a smile. Paul started his thing. "Friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of our friends, Kaira Newton and Eliot Spencer. Now, if the couple would please say their vows." Father Paul said. Eliot held Kaira's hands and looked at her, his eyes glassy. "Kaira Newton, you are the best thing to happen to me. Your smile makes me smile, and I can't get enough. I know I am not a perfect man, and I know there have been plenty of times you could've left, but you've been by my side these past five years. I love you. And I promise to love and protect you till my dying day. I love you, Kaira Spencer." Eliot finished his vows, trying to keep cool. Kaira was next. She didn't even have anything written down as well. She looked at Eliot. "Eliot Spencer, where do I even begin with you? You've changed my life. You helped me to become a better person. You are always there for me no matter what happens. I love you so much! Thank you for being the most amazing guy a girl can dream of. I promise to be a shoulder to lean on and watch your back till my dying day. I love you so much, Eliot." Kaira finished. She composed herself and Father Paul continued. "Do you Eliot Spencer, take Kaira to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?" Father Paul looked at Eliot. "I do." Eliot smiled. "Do you Kaira Lynn Newton, take Eliot to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?" Father Paul looked at Kaira. "I do." Kaira answered, smiling as well. "Now, the rings." Paul said as Hardison smiled, reaching in his pocket to pull out the ring box. He handed it to Eliot. Eliot grabbed the box and took the rings out and handed the box back to Hardison. He handed his silver band to Kaira and she held it, smiling. "Repeat after me. I, Eliot Spencer, give you this ring as a symbol of my love with the pledge; to love you today, tomorrow, forever and always." Father Paul said. "I, Eliot Spencer, give you this ring as a symbol of my love with the pledge; to love you today, tomorrow, forever and always." Eliot repeated, sliding the silver band onto Kaira's left ring finger. "And now Kaira. Repeat after me. I, Kaira Newton, give you this ring as a symbol of my love with the pledge; to love you today, tomorrow, forever and always." Paul looked at Kaira. "I, Kaira Newton, give you this ring as a symbol of my love with the pledge; to love you today, tomorrow, forever and always." Kaira repeated, sliding the silver band on Eliot's left ring finger. They both smiled as Kaira slid the ring on. "By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Paul said. Eliot placed his hands on Kaira's face and kissed her passionately. He then dipped her as Kaira started giggling, kissing Eliot. They ran down the aisle as everyone started clapping.</p><p>Kaira changed into flats for dancing as they all sat and ate. Kaira was on cloud nine. She was officially Kaira Spencer. She couldn't be happier. So once everyone was done eating, Hardison got the music going and they said bye to Father Paul, as his flight was soon to go back home. They thanked him as he left. They were all laughing and having fun when Hardison stopped the music. "Hey, people. It's time for the bride and groom to share their first dance as husband and wife. Go on out there!" Hardison called out. Eliot extended a hand to Kaira, who took and got up. They joined at the floor as Hardison turned the music down slightly. Kaira and Eliot were cheek and cheek as they danced. Kaira chuckled and smiled. "God, I can't believe this is happening." Kaira said quietly. "I can't either." Eliot smiled as they shared a kiss. Before Kaira knew it, the song was over. Eliot went back to the tables as Kaira followed. She sat down as Hardison played another song. "Now it's time for the father, daughter dance." Hardison announced. Kaira looked at Nate and smiled. They got up and Kaira and Nate went to the circle. They started dancing and Kaira was smiling. "You know, kiddo, I wasn't lucky enough to have a daughter of my own. Till you came barreling into my life." Nate smiled at Kaira. Kaira smiled back, fighting tears. "Thank you, Nathan, for being the father I needed." Kaira said, tearing up slightly. They finished the dance, and Hardison put the music on shuffle and everyone danced together. They had a blast the rest of the night and enjoyed the night. They sat back down altogether to continue eating and drinking. Hardison got up and went to the table beside the food where the gifts were. He grabbed his gifts and handed them to Kaira and Eliot. "Hardison, you didn't have to get us anything." Kaira said, looking at Hardison. "Why wouldn't I get my little sis and her man something on their wedding day?" Hardison questioned like she was crazy. Kaira smiled and her and Eliot opened the gifts. In the boxes were new cell phones. "These are your new cellphones. Not only to they have the metal detectors in them, they also have my database and live facial recognition, which should mean you don't have to send me a picture of the target that needs identifying." Hardison explained. Kaira hugged him. "Thank you, big bro." Kaira smiled. Eliot smiled and hugged Hardison before sitting down again and laid the phone down. Kaira also sat down. Parker got up next and handed her gifts to Kaira and Eliot. "Guys, you didn't have to get us anything." Kaira said, surprised. "Of course we did." Nate smiled. The couple opened up Parker's gifts for them. Kaira had a new lock picking set, as hers were improvised, and Eliot a set of baseball cards he wanted. Kaira and Eliot both hugged her and Sophie got her gift. The couple opened it and saw it was a bottle of red wine. They hugged Sophie and thanked her. Then Nate got up and grabbed his gift. He sat it in front of the couple and sat down. Kaira chuckled as she and Eliot opened it. They pulled out another box, which was a coffee pot. Kaira and Eliot chuckled as they pulled bags of coffee out of the box. "You two were always using my coffee pot in the mornings, so I figured this would be satisfactory." Nate smiled as Kaira hugged him. "Thank you, Nathan." Kaira smiled. Nate did the same. They continued eating and drinking and then they got ready to leave. They all tore down the decorations and cleaned up and went back home.</p><p>Before they went home, Sophie took Kaira aside. "I hate to do this to you, Kaira. Especially on your big day, but I need to tell you something." Sophie told Kaira. "What is it, Soph?" Kaira asked Sophie. "I'm going away for a while. I realized that for people to see who I truly am, I need to figure that out." Sophie explained to Kaira. Kaira was shocked. "And you and Nate are the most important people in my life, and I have never heard you say my real name." Sophie said, getting sad. "Sophie, a name doesn't define who you are." Kaira said. Sophie just hugged Kaira. Sophie left a bit later. Kaira and Eliot put their gifts away and sat at the breakfast nook, drinking the red wine Sophie got them. "Today was so incredible." Kaira said, smiling. She may have also been a bit drunk. Eliot smiled and chuckled at his wife. "I know. This is the best day of my life." Eliot placed a kiss on Kaira's lips. She kissed him back. She took another sip of wine and looked out the window and the Boston landscape. "Do you think our relationship would be the same if we were normal?" Kaira asked Eliot. "Yeah. I'd like to think so." Eliot said. He took a sip of the wine. "It's getting late. We should go to bed." Kaira said, going to stand up, setting her wine glass on the table. "Good idea. As long as I can carry you to bed." Eliot said, setting down his glass and scooping up Kaira, carrying her bridal style as she screamed and laughed. Eliot sat her on the bed and placed another kiss on her lips. "You go ahead and get some sleep. I'll clean up and then join you." Eliot said. "Thank you." Kaira said kinda quietly as she got cuddled in. "For what?" Eliot asked Kaira. "For everything. For being there for me, for being you. For showing me how a woman should be treated." Kaira said, her eyes closing shut from tiredness. "Anytime, Princess. I'm the luckiest guy in the world to call you my wife." Eliot said. A smile crept on Kaira's face and he placed another kiss on her forehead. He got the glasses cleaned up and went to bed, wondering how he got the most amazing woman to become his wife. The next morning, Kaira awoke with a killer headache. She looked to see Eliot wasn't in bed. She turned to her nightstand and saw a note with a couple of aspirin and a glass of water. She looked at the note.</p><p>
  <em>Kaira,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Come into the kitchen once you take the aspirin. I got a surprise for you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Eliot</em>
</p><p>Kaira smiled and took the aspirin. She got up and walked into the kitchen, where she saw Eliot cooking breakfast. "Morning, sweetheart." Eliot smiled at Kaira. Kaira smiled back. "Hey, babe." Kaira said. She walked up and kissed Eliot's cheek. "I figured I'd cook for you as now you are my wife." Eliot said, still cooking. "Thank you, husband." Kaira giggled, causing another smile to appear on Eliot's face. "I'm never gonna get tired of that." Eliot said as he finished cooking. "I know." Karia smiled. She sat down with Eliot and they ate. Then Eliot got up and told Kaira to stay put. He brought out small box and handed it to Kaira. She opened it, revealing a gold necklace with a heart pendant that said, "E &amp; K". Kaira hugged Eliot. "Thank you." Kaira smiled. She had Eliot help put in on. He kissed her again. They didn't get any calls from Nate saying they needed to go in, so they just enjoyed the day as a married couple.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to share and comment if you like this series!<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. The Iceman Job (2x8)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Team Leverage has another job! This time, the client is a cop who was doing a side job as an armored car driver. He got robbed and shot during a run. He was framed as the inside man for the robbery. The mark, Jim Kerrity, the hard partying businessman who set up the robbery to get the insurance payout. With Sophie gone, it's up to Hardison and Kaira to fill in as the grifters. When Hardison oversells his cover as "The Iceman", the team is forced to step in and clean up the mess. Good thing Hardison's best girls are the best damned diamond thieves in Boston.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying the series so far! First things first, we hit 1k reads on Wattpad!!!!!!!! I've never written anything that was that popular. As thanks, I'm gonna post a Q&amp;A at the end of the chapter. Without further adieu, here is chapter 8 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot got called in by Nate. He had a client. Just as the couple arrived in, Hardison revealed that he discovered that instead of Harrisburg, where Nate said he was going, Nate went to London to meet with Sophie, even though he yelled at them for calling Sophie. Kaira was the only one who had yet to call Sophie. Nate arrived and informed them that they'd have a shadow. Their client's attorney, Tara Carlisle. Needless to say, no one was happy. "I hate this." Eliot said, two coffee mugs in hand for him and Kaira. He handed one to her as he sat down. "You do not let Vicki Vale into the Batcave ever." Hardison said, also not happy. "First, this is my home, not a cave. And second, we're not gonna allow her up here." Nate said. "Sophie would never approve. Call her." Parker said. "We can't just keep calling Sophie." Nate said, trying to move on. "Oh, okay. I see how it is. We can't call her, but you can go off and have a little secret meeting with her." Hardison said, kinda cocky. "Secret meeting? What are you talking about? I was in Harrisburg, researching a client." Nate said. "Wow, cause you know what? Your passport got dinged going through Heathrow Airport yesterday. Heathrow's in London." Hardison said as he pulled up the information and Nate knew he was caught. "I guess you couldn't get a direct flight over to Harrisburg." Hardison said. "Well, it's hard when you do the same day booking." Eliot said, moving his arm from side to side in front of him. Kaira was amused. "Yeah, cause you had to go with the -" Nate blew Hardison off. "Did you realize that London is the home of the most surveillance cameras in the world?" Hardison said. "Really?" Parker said. Kaira shook her head no and looked at Nate. "Who feels like playing "Where's Waldo"?" Hardison asked the team, raising his hand. "Oh. Yeah." Parker raised her hand. "I do." Hardison said. He pulled up an image of Nate in London. "Oh. There's Waldo right there. Waldo Ford. Oh, oh. Is that Big Ben and you? Wow. You got twins and triplets everywhere. And looky there. 11:18 A.M. Standing outside of Sophie's apartment, looking quite pensive." Hardison said, pulling up more images of Nate in London. "Aww. He's rehearsing what he's gonna say. I've seen him do that." Parker said, amused. "Nathan, did you really think Hardison wouldn't find you? The boy's got more time on his hands than he knows what to do with." Kaira quipped, getting a look from Hardison and a smiled from Eliot.</p><p>"All right, all right, all right, guys. Okay. Yeah. You caught me. I went to London. Yeah. I saw Sophie." Nate said, pausing. "And she's not coming back." Nate said, regretfully. The team's demeter changed to sadness and shock. "Not now or not ever?" Parker asked. "I don't know. And I don't - I don't think she knows either. So, uh... that's that." Nate said, sadness in his voice. "I hope she does come back." Kaira whispered, feeling the sadness. "Could you please take the..." Nate said, gesturing to the photos on the screen. Hardison took them down. "Thank you. Can we get back to work?" Nate asked. He moved the chair to the side and pulled out a card. "This, uh... Tara Carlisle - Hardison, maybe you can just do a background check on her." Nate handed the card to Hardison and sat down. "And if everything pans out, I don't see why we can't have an outsider just this once, tag along. Hmm? Okay. Why don't you run it for them?" Nate said. Hardison pulled up an image of an older man and sat up. "Meet the late, great Bennett Kimball. He made his fortune the old-fashioned way - polluting, union-busting, employing sweatshop labor. His personal life was even worse. Drunken-driving accidents, chasing women, paying off the mob." Hardison informed the team, pulling up the images. "Then why haven't we ever heard of this guy?" Parker asked. "Yeah. A man like that seems like someone up our ally." Kaira pointed out. "Because to the rest of the world, Bennett Kimball was a pillar of Boston society... thanks to one very hardworking lawyer." Nate said. Hardison pulled up another image of the lawyer. He was kinda chubby-faced and tight curly grey hair. "Meet his longtime attorney, Peter Blanchard. This is an interesting guy. He's a blue-blood Harvard law graduate who turned into Kimball's personal janitor. Dude would pay off the cops, pay hush money, God knows what else." Hardison said. "And he was rewarded by being named the executor and sole beneficiary of Kimball's estate." Nate said. "See, Kimball didn't have any kids. He had a couple of ex-wives way, way back, but Blanchard's the closest thing he has to family." Hardison said. Eliot leaned back and Kaira did too, about on top of him. "Yeah, well, I guess this Blanchard guy didn't count on his client having such a giving side." Eliot said. "It's funny how that works." Nate said. He stood up and walked to the screens. "What happens to rich people when they know the end is near. It's really, really amazing. Okay, I don't know that we have a legal angle to play on this one, cause in three days, he is going to present the will in probate court and assume control of the estate." Nate said. "Leaving Ruth Walton's charity with nothing." Kaira pointed out. "Now, Blanchard was the keeper of Kimball's secrets, so... yeah, so that's our way in, right there." Nate said. "You want a skeleton from his closet." Parker pointed out. "Absolutely, and there's got to be tons of skeletons. I mean, we want something so scary that the mere mention of it makes this guy run for his checkbook. So, if that weren't hard enough, we've got the chaperone to think about." Nate said, walking away. "This one's gonna be difficult." Kaira pointed out, huffing.</p><p>Hardison drove Nate, Eliot, and Kaira to a prison, where they'd meet the lawyer and a potential skeleton. They all leaned against the van as Hardison looked at a file. "Tara Carlisle. She checks out. Civil-Rights lawyer, does a lot of pro bono work. Collects lost causes like kittens." Hardison said, closing the file. Just then a red car pulled up. Tara was a bit younger than Nate but looked like a sexy librarian. "Well, she's honest." Eliot said. "Crusader. Incorruptible. And one sexy librarian." Hardison said, slightly turned on at the sight of Tara getting out of the car. She waved at the group and Nate waved back, with Eliot fixing his glasses. Kaira was kinda amused. Nate walked over to her. "Guys, uh, I'd like you to meet Tara Carlisle. She's our client's attorney." Nate said as Tara walked over. "She's gonna be joining us today." Nate finished introducing their shadow as Tara shook hands with them. "I'm here because I believe we share a common goal. I just want to make sure it's done the right way. Now you said you have something be could use against Blanchard?" Tara said. "Okay, well, behind these prison walls -or, um, prison shrubs here is Kimball's former business partner P.J Orson. He's doing 10 years for embezzlement." Hardison was explaining as Kaira noticed the notepad Tara brought out. "Kimball's company paid 50,000 dollars to a company called Lemond Holdings back in 1980." Hardison finished explaining, looking at Nate for the explanation for the notepad. "That? Yeah. She does that. It's okay. Go ahead." Nate said. "Lamond Holdings is a Vegas front company for the mob." Hardison said. "Yeah, 50,000 dollars used to be the going rate for a contract killer in those days." Eliot pointed out. "You think Kimball paid to have somebody killed?" Tara questioned. "Well, either way, he wanted somebody gone. 50,000 is plenty to get somebody off the grid. Even in 1980." Kaira explained, getting a "seriously?" look from Tara. "Okay, now what we're gonna do right now is we're going to go undercover, and-" Nate was laying out the plan before Tara cut him off. "Well, why don't we go talk to Mr. Orson?" Tara asked. The team kinda chuckled. "Listen, sweetheart, I know mob guys. Call it personal experience. When you pay a mob guy to do a job, you keep your mouth shut. Either that or you get your kneecaps broken." Kaira pointed out, kinda amused about the innocence of Tara. "No, the best lie is the truth, Mr. Ford and Mrs. Spencer. I think if we go in there, and plead our case, Mr. Orson will want to talk to us." Tara said.</p><p>They walked in and Nate, Kaira, and Tara meet with Orson as Eliot and Hardison went in as prison guards. Tara talked to Mr. Orson, and he started laughing. She turned around and Kaira and Nate gave her an "I told you so" face. "Mr. Orson, I don't understand. If you tell me why you made that 50,000 dollar payment to Lamond Holdings, I could write a letter to the judge, possibly get your sentence reduced." Tara explained. Orson laughed again. "Reduced? This is minimum security. I love it here. No ex-wives hounding me for alimony. A great bunch of guys to hang with. I mean, why would I help you?" Orson laughed again. "Listen, sweetie, I got to go. I got a cooking class. You have a great day." Orson said. Karia quickly took the phone from Tara. "You know, P.J, do you really think these walls will protect you from your past? No one hides forever." Kaira gave a threatening glare before Orson hung up and walked away, kinda scared. Kaira got up and walked towards Nate. "Well... I guess that went pretty well. Okay, Hardison, Eliot, I want you to put the squeeze on Orson." Nate said before Kaira jumped in. "I got him worked up for you boys." Kaira said, kinda flirtatiously. "Parker, Kaira, case Blanchard's office. I want to know where he keeps his dirty files. You, why don't you come with me? I'm about to become a really terrible lawyer. You can watch." Nate said, going to walk away. Kaira and Tara soon followed behind.</p><p>They went to a courthouse, where Blanchard was. Parker and Karia had already arrived and started casing the building, finding their way through the vents. "Look, Blanchard's here at the same time you are. That's a coincidence." Tara said as Kaira chuckled. "No, no, we hacked into his online appointment schedule. I mean, yes, what a coincidence." Nate said. Kaira chuckled again. "Why don't you wait for me outside?" Nate told Tara. "What are you gonna do?" Tara asked Nate. "Make an appointment with - you'll see." Nate said. Kaira heard knocking and Nate talking in a weird accent. "Hi, there. Listen. Jimmy Popodokolos, Las Vegas. Attorney-at-law. I'm here to talk to the judge about the Kimball probate hearing." Nate said. "Okay, Mr. Popodokolos." A woman said. "Thank you. Yeah. Very important. Thank you." Nate said. Kaira knew Nate was getting Blanchard's attention. She was still casing the office with Parker. Kaira heard Eliot and Hardison go in the prison and get the lowdown. Kaira and Parker were at the end of the vents. Parker put a camera in the vent and pushed it through, finding the safe. Kaira then heard Eliot and Hardison set Orson up with a shiv that Eliot made and planted on him. Just then, Hardison started freaking out and Eliot tried to calm him down. Then Kaira heard Eliot reveal the surprise he put in the bunk of Orson. That was two marks on him. Then Eliot and Hardison mentioned Lamond Holdings. Kaira remembered the three-strikes rule. Kaira then heard Tara get a call from Orson about him freaking out. Kaira was glad it worked. "Alright, so Blanchard paid the mob 50,000 dollars to kill someone named George Gilbert for Kimball. This should be an interesting meeting." Nate said. Kaira went back to the office with Eliot and Hardison after picking them up from the prison.</p><p>The next day, Parker and Kaira were climbing through the vents as Hardison was at his computer looking for George Gilbert. "Nate, I've been searching for a George Gilbert with mob ties circa 1980, and I'm coming up empty. Are you sure your intel is correct?" Hardison asked Nate. "I'm positive. Listen, Hardison, if we cancel this meeting, we lose all credibility with Blanchard. All right? It's our only shot, so please, get me an answer." Nate said. "I got you. I got you." Hardison said. Kaira then heard Blanchard clearing his throat. "Peter Blanchard." He introduced himself. "Ah. Jimmy Popodokolos, uh... Esquire." Nate said. Parker and Kaira were at the vent. Parker was able to do a backbend and come back up. Kaira did the same. Parker then started working the safe. "I like to know who I'm dealing with. James Popodokolos. Graduated from University Nevada, Reno Law school, 1993. Took the Nevada bar exam three times. Disbarred two years ago." Peter said. Kaira chuckled. Of course, Hardison would make an identity that was so bad it was good. "No. Uh, suspended. Okay? It was turned into a suspension. Yeah. I mean, you can call them up. I'm good to go." Nate said. "What brings a suspended lawyer from Las Vegas to my office today?" Blanchard asked. "Can I just - you strike me as a Harvard man." Nate said, buying time. Parker was still on the safe. "Class of '77." Blanchard said. "I knew it. I'm sitting here, and I'm thinking what it must have been like for a guy like you, a Harvard man, to get those calls at three in the morning from Bennett Kimball - sports car wrapped around a tree, another pimp with an unpaid bill. See, I like to know who I'm dealing with, too." Nate said. "What do you want?" Blanchard asked. "I want to tell you a story... a story about a man who wrote a check for 50,000 dollars in 1980 to Lamond Holdings." Nate said. "I wrote a lot of checks to a lot of companies. So what?" Blanchard said. "So, well... I happen to know what the payment was for. So, you know, we can - we can do this game, or you can start talking compensation. And let's just get to it. All right, because it's what I do." Nate said.</p><p>"Nate, Nate, the payment was not for George Gilbert. It was for Georgia Gilbert. It wasn't a contract killing, man. I'm so - you - you got nothing." Hardison said. "Bra, you in there with nothing. Better talk about your mama." Hardison said. "Okay, I got you. Look. Georgia Gilbert - she was a stripper. She moved to Vegas back in 1980. Lamond Holdings was set up to pay her 50,000 dollars." Hardison said. "Georgia Gilbert. Name ring a bell? Stripper. Yeah, your blue blood client Kimball fell in love with a stripper, didn't he? I know what you did here. You sent her out to Vegas with 50,000 dollars that was laundered through a holding company. That's - I bet you didn't even tell Kimball something. Or if you did, what? She ran away?" Nate said. Kaira was impressed. "It was for his own good. He wanted to marry her for god's sake. Mr. Popodokolos, I will cede that it would have been a scandal. But Mr. Kimball is dead. I don't see the relevance." Blanchard said. "Damn." Kaira was impressed Nate figured that part out. "You don't see the relevance?" Nate asked. "No." Blanchard said. Karia heard finger tapping. "Georgia Gilbert was pregnant. Hmm? Is that relevant?" Nate asked. Karia was even more impressed. "Hardison, was she pregnant?" Karia asked as Parker was still cracking the safe. "Like, how would I know? I can't even find the girl's social security number. Just give me five seconds. Can I please have five seconds?" Hardison said. "How would you know? She wouldn't say anything. I mean, you sent her out to Vegas, and the local syndicate probably said, "We're gonna put you in the ground in cement if you ever contact Kimball." What you have here is a situation where your millionaire's natural born daughter has come out of the woodwork and wants a payout." Nate said. "Where is she?" Blanchard asked. "Who?" Nate asked. "The daughter." Blanchard answered. "The daughter of Georgia Gilbert?" Nate questioned. "Parker, you've got to go out. Hardison, I hope that identity is solid." Kaira said. "Is it safe to see her now?" Nate asked. Kaira and Parker got the hint. She got up and left, leaving Kaira to try to crack the safe. "Uh, yeah. Come on in." Nate said to Parker, bringing her in. "Mr. Blanchard. I'd like you to meet Lizzy Cantrell, born Lizzy Gilbert." Nate said, introducing Parker. "What was she doing out there?" Blanchard asked. "Um... stealing. She has a meth problem." Nate said. Kaira facepalmed herself. "I... do. I love meth." Parker said. Kaira rolled her eyes and tried to get the safe opened. "But she cleans up really nice for a judge. You know, and, oh, boy, when she starts crying about how, you know - growing up without a daddy, huh?" Nate said before Karia tuned the rest out and went back in the vents and crawled through them.</p><p>They arrived back at the office. "I was one digit away from cracking that safe. One digit." Parker said, going to sit down with a soda. "And I got the last digit but I couldn't actually type in the code. Ran out of time." Kaira said, sitting on the small couch with Eliot, sitting on him basically. "Yeah, no, this is much better than the safe." Nate said. "I got everything on Georgia Gilbert, and I mean everything." Hardison said. He clicked his remote and was leaning back on the couch. "She was born May 15, 1960. Graduated St. Mary's. She failed her driver's test three times." Hardison was saying as Kaira caught Nate looking at her driver's license application, which said she was colorblind. "She's color blind. She wears a size 6 dress, size 8 shoe, and how in the world did you know she was pregnant?" Hardison said, kinda impressed with Nate. "Wait, she was pregnant?" Kaira questioned curiously. "Yeah. Gave the baby up for adoption." Hardison said. "What happened to Georgia?" Parker asked. "She died in 1985. Cancer." Hardison informed the team. "Tough draw." Eliot said, sympathetic. "Shit. That is a tough draw." Kaira said kinda quietly. "Well, it wasn't really a guess. I mean, for decades, Kimball - he had a lot of women on the side. Avoided a lot of scandal, right? So what made him decide to marry Georgia Gilbert over all those women?" Nate said. "Blanchard paid her off, and Kimball just thought she ran out on him." Eliot said. "Damn. Kimball must've been so sad. I mean, he loved her enough to marry her, and then to just lose her like that? I would've probably killed myself looking for him if that happened to us." Kaira looked at Eliot, who placed a kiss on her cheek to calm her down. "Now, how did you know that the baby was a girl?" Hardison asked. "Oh. Oh, yeah. No, that - that was a guess. Yeah. Yeah." Nate said as Kaira and Hardison chuckled. "I mean, but, you know, that's a 50/50 deal." Nate said. "Why don't you find the real daughter?" Eliot asked. "Adoption records are sealed. Paper only. I have a reference number, but nobody can see inside. All this is good up until Blanchard wants a DNA test. I got to say, even with my bag of tricks, I can't rewrite Parker's genetic code." Hardison said. "So, we convince him that asking for the DNA test is the worse possible choice he could make." Kaira said. "How do we do that?" Eliot asked. "We don't." Nate said. He gave Tara a call and told her what to do. Nate met with Tara and told her she did a good job.</p><p>The next day, Nate drove Parker to a meeting place, and Karia and Eliot were on the other side of the meeting place on watch. "Ms. Carlisle, are you ready?" Nate asked in the phone. "Uh, I never thought I'd say this, but I hope your way works, Mr. Ford, because I don't think we have a case." Tara said. "By the time the hearing starts, we'll have a check in our hands." Nate said. Nate heard Nate and Parker get out of the car. "This is where he said." Parker said. Kaira and Eliot were walking past a construction vehicle when they saw an older man aiming a machine gun at Nate and Parker. Kaira started running and Eliot yelled at Nate, warning him. The gunman shot out the window of Nate's car. Kaira then picked up a rock and threw it at the gunman, knocking his shot off, shooting the tire of Nate's car, causing Nate and Parker to run behind the car. Eliot ran up to the gunman and grabbed the gun. The gunman went to punch Eliot in the gut, but then Eliot pulled the gun away, clocking the gunman in the jaw. Eliot then tossed the gun to Kaira as she disarmed it and Eliot challenged the gunman. "Come on." Eliot said, daring the gunman. The gunman went to punch Eliot, but Eliot dodged it and punched him in the face. They did it again, only this time Eliot flipped the guy over on the gravel road. Kaira went beside Eliot and held the gun in her hand. "You want this?" Kaira asked the gunman, who had gotten up and had blood coming down his nose. Kaira held it, acting like she was gonna shoot him. The gunman ran away. Kaira tossed the gun to Eliot, who made sure the gun was empty. "Well, he was convinced all right. Good plan." Parker said as Eliot tossed the gun behind him in the bushes. "No, no, no. This is good. This is good. Because, I mean, you know, we get you to the hearing, he'll cut us a check in the hallway just to keep you from getting in front of that judge. But just make sure that Parker, uh... make sure she gets to that hearing... no matter what." Nate said, breathing heavily as he was grabbing something from the car and running away.</p><p>The trio started running to Eliot's car. They drove near the courthouse and started running. Parker ran into a chessboard and lifted two pairs of sunglasses. She handed them to Eliot. "Are you kidding me?" Eliot put on the sunglasses. "Look at this." Eliot said. Parker had on white sunglasses and the trio kept walking. "Hardison, give me some good news." Nate said. "Oh, I got some great news for you. They just put out an APB on Parker. It says she's a late 20's caucasian woman who shot an officer, she's an addict, and she's armed. A trifecta." Hardison informed them. "Hardison, how good's the description of her?" Eliot asked. Just then a police car came up behind them. The trio stopped as Kaira groaned. "Pretty good." Parker retorted. They started running. Eliot and Parker lost the sunglasses and they ran into a side ally, knocking over trash cans. Just then Nate got a phone call from Blanchard, threatening him with Parker, saying she gunned down Lind, the gunman. Nate said it wouldn't hold up in court, but Blanchard asked if five to ten years of Parker's life was worth it, and that she should just go to Vegas and rot. "All right, Hardison, listen. Blanchard's headed to the courthouse. You got to delay him. Buy us some time." Nate ordered Hardison. "And how do you expect me to do that?" Hardison asked. "I don't know, use your imagination." Nate said. "Just use my imagination." Hardison said. He got to work with whatever he was doing. Eliot, Parker, and Kaira were at a dead end underneath the courthouse. "We're cut off. We're gonna have to get rough." Parker said. Eliot and Parker looked at each other. "I ain't hitting cops." Eliot said. "Me neither." Kaira said. Just then the door banged and there was shouting. "I look forward to seeing you explain that." Parker said. Hardison then planted keys on Blanchard. Kaira and Eliot hid as the police officer rounded the corner, pointing his gun at Parker. "Whoa. Take it easy. Take it easy." Parker said. Just then Kaira and Eliot came out. Kaira grabbed the gun and punched the officer with her elbow in the face. Eliot grabbed the gun and took the bullets out of it and threw it to the side. "All right. Be cool. All right. Nothing's gonna happen to anybody." Eliot said. "Just settle down." Kaira said before the cop went after Eliot, pulling out the taser. Eliot disarmed him and tossed the taser to Parker. "Not using the stun gun either." Eliot said. Eliot shoved him away and Parker pointed the taser at the cop. "Stop. Chill. All right? Nobody's gonna get hurt." Kaira said as Eliot went beside her, trying to calm the officer down. Just then another cop came from behind and drew his weapon. Parker then pointed the stun gun underneath her and fired it, causing the cop to scream and go to the floor. "Why would you do that?" Kaira asked, annoyed. "Seriously? What are you doing?" Eliot asked Parker. Parker shrugged her shoulders. Eliot turned to the cop. "Listen, it's probably best if you pretend that you never saw us." Eliot said. They started running and Parker shocked the cop again. Eliot slapped the taser out of Parker's hand and told her to stop. "Nate, I did all I could do, but -" Hardison said as Kaira heard Blanchard enter. It went silent a moment. "Nate, I hope you have a plan B or F or something in the first half of the alphabet." Hardison said. "Yes, but it depends on Ms. Carlisle." Nate said. Kaira could hear him running and breathing heavy. Kaira got nervous. "The librarian?" Hardison questioned. It was silent another moment as Kaira and Parker tried to find another way in the courthouse. "All right. Eliot, Karia, what's your 20?" Nate asked, going to security. "Every entrance is covered. Parker and Kaira are trying to find another way in." Eliot said. "Okay, Parker, Kaira, forget about the hearing. I need you two to do something else." Nate said. Nate told the duo what to do. Kaira and Parker went to do the thing as they tuned into Nate's entrance.</p><p>"Jimmy Popodokolos. Sorry for my tardiness." Nate said in character. "Judge, we're already underway here." Blanchard said. "And I don't want to go through this a second time. Mr. Popodokolos..." The female judge said. "That's me." Nate said. "... has filed that he represents a missing heir. I will hear him out." The judge said. "Now?" Nate questioned. "Mm-hmm. Yes, now." The judge said, wanting to move on. "Uh, yeah. Your honor, if you just give me a moment to collect my thoughts, gather my papers, and, yeah. And again, sorry for the tardiness. And, uh, I like a wise Latina judge. I like it." Nate said, stalling quietly at the end. "Thanks for keeping it going till I got here." Nate whispered. "You can't pretend to be a lawyer in a courtroom." Tara whispered. "Well, stick around. I'm about to practice medicine too." Nate said, whispering. "Your honor, I'd like to offer into evidence these documents showing a payment that Mr. Blanchard made to a Georgia Gilbert, a woman I contend bore Mr. Kimball's child." Nate said to the judge. "Yes, your honor. Mr. Popodokoli-" Blanchard was sayin before Nate butt in. "It's Popodokolos." Nate corrected. "Pokododolos. Pop - Pop-" Blanchard tried correcting it. "Popodokolos." Nate corrected. "This man spun these fairy tales in my office. It's a shakedown from a disbarred..." Blanchard argued, getting upset. "Suspended." Nate corrected. "Ambulance chaser from Las Vegas! And he says that he found Bennett Kimball's daughter. So, I only have one question for him. Where is she?" Blanchard said, getting angry. It was silent for a moment. "I could produce her, your honor. If you just allow me to ask the witness one question, one question to the witness." Nate said. Kaira wondered where Nate was going with this. "Please." The judge said. "Okay?" Nate asked for confirmation. "Ask." Blanchard said, annoyed. "Thank you, your honor." Nate paused a moment.</p><p>"Ms. Walton... what color is my tie?" Nate asked. Kaira was confused. "I don't know. I'm colorblind." Ruth said. There was another pause from Nate as the team wondered where this was going. "Hmm. Colorblind. You're, uh... ah. yes. What I have here, your honor- these are the medical records for Bennett Kimball, which Mr. Blanchard here was kind enough to offer into evidence... which he was. Now, it states that Mr. Kimball is colorblind. Hmm. Now what we have here is - it says that Georgia Gilbert is color blind. On the Massachusetts application for a driver's license." Nate explained. Kaira wondered what this meant. "Now, it's rare for a woman to be colorblind. It takes a colorblind father, and a colorblind mother to produce a child who is colorblind." Nate said. Kaira knew what he was implying. Ruth Walton was the daughter of Bennett Kimball, and the rightful heir to the estate. "Wait, are - are you saying that I'm Bennett Kimball's daughter?" Ruth asked Nate. "Your honor, now he's testifying." Blanchard said, trying to blow off what Nate said. "You opened the door, counselor." The judge said. "It's no coincidence, is it, that you started a program helping foster kids get adopted. No coincidence. Is it, Ruth Walton?" Nate said. "No. I was adopted myself." Ruth said. "Yes, in 1982. You were two years old. State of Nevada." Nate said. "Yes." Ruth said. And just in a snap, all the pieces fell into place. "And the last time you saw Bennett Kimball, he called you by a different name, didn't he? What was it?" Nate asked. Kaira was amazed he got all of that from a driver's license application. "G.G. Yeah? Georgia Gilbert. G.G. Hmm? That's who he was looking at when he saw you that day. Your birth mother... the woman he loved and lost in 1980. Your honor... Bennett Kimball didn't call Ms. Walton here out of the blue to donate money to her charity. He searched for her. He searched for his daughter." Nate said. "I move to strike Mr. Popodokos' evidence from the record based on the fact that I haven't been able to get adequate time to review these outlandish claims and prepare a proper response." Blanchard said, trying to salvage his case. "Popodokolos." Nate corrected. "Popodokolos!" Blanchard yelled, obviously angry. "I agree, your honor. And I would also like to add a motion to compel a DNA test to put to rest any doubt that my client is Mr. Kimball's daughter. The truth will win out." Tara said. "Motion granted. When we get the results, I expect I will be awarding Ms. Walton the Kimball estate. We're adjourned." The judge said, banging her gavel. Parker and Kaira had arrived just a bit before. Nate looked proud of himself and Blanchard was still cocky. "You honestly think this will hold up?" Blanchard asked. "You know, for a Harvard man, you're not too sharp there. You know, you tried to keep Kimball's daughter out of the courtroom, she walked right in the front door." Nate said. Parker and Kaira walked up to Blanchard. "Sorry, we're late." Parker said. "We were just in your office cleaning out your safe." Kaira said, kinda cocky. "Those files - whoo! - That was a lot of dirt. I gave them to your special cop friend." Parker said. "Oh, who's not too happy with you, by the way, since you shot him. I guess you can't pay him off with any of the Kimball Estate money." Nate said. "Oh, and anyone who took ninth-grade biology will know about how inheritance of genes works." Kaira retorted as the cops put the cuffs on Blanchard. "What the hell is this? Hey, you don't understand! These people are thieves! I don't even think that one's a lawyer! And if he's Greek, I'm Aristotle!" Blanchard yelled as he was being dragged out of the courtroom. Ruth looked relieved and shocked. "So, do you still think the law is the only pathway to justice?" Nate asked Tara. "Now more than ever. I'd like to think that you learned something from me today." Tara said, leaving. Kaira chuckled. "Certainly." Nate said as he threw the file on the table. They left and went back to the bar.</p><p>The next night, they met back at the bar and got drinks as Nate talked with Ruth after finding out that indeed, Ruth Walton was Bennett Kimball's daughter. They sat down together. "So, um, where's, uh... where's your lawyer? I thought, you know, she'd be with you today you know, celebrating the win." Nate said. "My lawyer? I never met her before this week. She told me she was with you." Ruth said. The team was surprised. They told Ruth goodbye and they went up to Nate's apartment. They walked in and all stopped once they saw Tara. Only, she had on black leggings, black leather knee-high boots, and a grey tank top, her legs crossed, holding an envelope. "Took you long enough." Tara said. "Who are you?" Eliot asked, getting defensive. "Tara Cole. I'm a friend of Sophie's." Tara said as the team went up to her and she handed the envelope to Nate. "She said you guys were short-handed, asked me to help. It's all in there." Tara said. Nate continued walking, opening the envelope as the quartet surrounded Tara. "So, you help out by lying to us?" Hardison asked. "I wanted to see just how good you really are and show you just how good I am. You can consider it my audition." Tara said. "Pretty ballsy." Kaira said, impressed. She smiled. "I like it." Kaira said. Tara gave her a half-cocked smile. "I bet you're not even a lawyer." Parker said. "Oh. Sophie was right. You are adorable." Tara said, amused. "Excuse me?" Parker said. Just then the trio started arguing and Kaira tried to calm them down. "Hey. Hold on! Hey, hey! Guys, guys." Nate got their attention, turning around. "She's right. Sophie did send her. And Sophie asked us to give Tara here a shot." Nate handed the letter to Hardison, and him and Parker looked at it. "Well played. Welcome aboard." Nate said, extending his hand for Tara to shake. "Thanks." Tara said. She chuckled as grabbed Parker's arm as she was leaving. "Adorable." Tara said. She neared the door. "Whoa, whoa, hold up. Mnh-mnh. Hold up, hold up. What is this?" Hardison questioned Tara. "Oh, that's my invoice. For my cut of the inheritance." Tara explained. The team gave her dirty looks. "Hey, I'm not a candy stripper. This is my job." Tara said. Nate nodded his head, indicating to go ahead with the payment. Tara smiled. "There. See? We're getting paid already. It's gonna be fun." Tara said, laughing. "You know, we don't do this for the money!" Kaira called out as Tara walked out the door. shutting it behind her. "How did I miss that?" Karia questioned herself. The team turned back around and all looked at Nate, not totally happy with the situation. This was gonna get interesting.</p><p>Kaira then went back to her and Eliot's apartment and sat at the breakfast nook with a glass of wine. She pulled out her cellphone. She looked at the contacts and saw Sophie's name. Kaira exhaled and pressed call. It rang, but Sophie didn't answer. It went to voicemail. "Hey, Soph. It's me. I'm sorry for calling you. I know Nate said we wouldn't call again. But, I need to get something off my chest. Sophie, a name doesn't define who you are. Your heart and soul does. That's the reason I became friends with you Sophie. And yeah, I'm a little pissed at you Soph. You decided to leave after my wedding! You walked me down the aisle! I was so happy, I couldn't forget it for the life of me. But then you told me you were leaving. And you know what happened? I got shitfaced on wine and whiskey! I don't remember getting home that night. Eliot had to fill in the blanks for me. I never get wasted. And I don't blame you. I blame myself for not trying to convince you to stay. And thank you for sending Tara. She's good. Fooled me." Kaira paused, taking a breath. "I'm sorry that I couldn't help you. I wish there was something I could do to tell you that it's okay to question who you are. But, Soph, there are people here that need you. We miss you like crazy. I miss you." Kaira started tearing up. She calmed down. "I'm sorry Soph. Do me a favor. Don't tell Nate I called?" Kaira ended the message and held her phone. She put it up to her face and started crying. She missed Sophie. She missed the tips, the bad acting, and the motherly feel she had. Time would only tell if Sophie was returning. Kaira wished she had a time machine.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! This one was fun to write. Once again, thank you so much for 1k reads on Wattpad! As promised and as a thank you, there are some facts about me: </p><p>1.) I am 17 years old.</p><p>2.) I live in Pennsylvania.</p><p>3.) I attend school fully online.</p><p>4.) I work two jobs as a greeter and a receptionist.</p><p>5.) I have a younger brother.</p><p>6.) I base some traits of my characters on personal things about me. It helps me to write them.</p><p>7.) Despite what I said earlier, the only way myself and Kaira are alike is that we both are good at Poker.</p><p>8.) I have an unhealthy obsession with Supernatural, and Christian Kane's music. </p><p>9.) My favorite Christian Kane songs are "Fast Car", "Different Kind of Knight", and "Whiskey in Mind". </p><p>10.) I actually have a genetic disorder called Turner's Syndrome, which is a sex-chromosome disorder where my one x-chromosome is gone. </p><p>That sound be all. If you want to know more about me, comment or send me a message. Remember to vote and share this story, and follow me. As always, much love to you all &lt;3! Stay Safe</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. The Lost Heir Job (2x9)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Team has another case! This time, a young woman was cheated out of a deal with a dying prominent businessman by his tough lawyer. She approaches Nate, asking for help in getting the estate she was promised before he deteriorated. This case is gonna be challenging, as this time the team has a shadow. Their client's attorney, Tara Carlisle. With Sophie not coming back anytime soon, it will be up to the team to complete this job on their own.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! I hope you've enjoyed the series so far. I hope you also liked the Q&amp;A I did in the last chapter. This series has been so much fun for me to write! Well, without further adieu, here is chapter 9 of season 2.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot got called in by Nate. He had a client. Just as the couple arrived in, Hardison revealed that he discovered that instead of Harrisburg, where Nate said he was going, Nate went to London to meet with Sophie, even though he yelled at them for calling Sophie. Kaira was the only one who had yet to call Sophie. Nate arrived and informed them that they'd have a shadow. Their client's attorney, Tara Carlisle. Needless to say, no one was happy. "I hate this." Eliot said, two coffee mugs in hand for him and Kaira. He handed one to her as he sat down. "You do not let Vicki Vale into the Batcave ever." Hardison said, also not happy. "First, this is my home, not a cave. And second, we're not gonna allow her up here." Nate said. "Sophie would never approve. Call her." Parker said. "We can't just keep calling Sophie." Nate said, trying to move on. "Oh, okay. I see how it is. We can't call her, but you can go off and have a little secret meeting with her." Hardison said, kinda cocky. "Secret meeting? What are you talking about? I was in Harrisburg, researching a client." Nate said. "Wow, cause you know what? Your passport got dinged going through Heathrow Airport yesterday. Heathrow's in London." Hardison said as he pulled up the information and Nate knew he was caught. "I guess you couldn't get a direct flight over to Harrisburg." Hardison said. "Well, it's hard when you do the same day booking." Eliot said, moving his arm from side to side in front of him. Kaira was amused. "Yeah, cause you had to go with the -" Nate blew Hardison off. "Did you realize that London is the home of the most surveillance cameras in the world?" Hardison said. "Really?" Parker said. Kaira shook her head no and looked at Nate. "Who feels like playing "Where's Waldo"?" Hardison asked the team, raising his hand. "Oh. Yeah." Parker raised her hand. "I do." Hardison said. He pulled up an image of Nate in London. "Oh. There's Waldo right there. Waldo Ford. Oh, oh. Is that Big Ben and you? Wow. You got twins and triplets everywhere. And looky there. 11:18 A.M. Standing outside of Sophie's apartment, looking quite pensive." Hardison said, pulling up more images of Nate in London. "Aww. He's rehearsing what he's gonna say. I've seen him do that." Parker said, amused. "Nathan, did you really think Hardison wouldn't find you? The boy's got more time on his hands than he knows what to do with." Kaira quipped, getting a look from Hardison and a smiled from Eliot.</p><p>"All right, all right, all right, guys. Okay. Yeah. You caught me. I went to London. Yeah. I saw Sophie." Nate said, pausing. "And she's not coming back." Nate said, regretfully. The team's demeter changed to sadness and shock. "Not now or not ever?" Parker asked. "I don't know. And I don't - I don't think she knows either. So, uh... that's that." Nate said, sadness in his voice. "I hope she does come back." Kaira whispered, feeling the sadness. "Could you please take the..." Nate said, gesturing to the photos on the screen. Hardison took them down. "Thank you. Can we get back to work?" Nate asked. He moved the chair to the side and pulled out a card. "This, uh... Tara Carlisle - Hardison, maybe you can just do a background check on her." Nate handed the card to Hardison and sat down. "And if everything pans out, I don't see why we can't have an outsider just this once, tag along. Hmm? Okay. Why don't you run it for them?" Nate said. Hardison pulled up an image of an older man and sat up. "Meet the late, great Bennett Kimball. He made his fortune the old-fashioned way - polluting, union-busting, employing sweatshop labor. His personal life was even worse. Drunken-driving accidents, chasing women, paying off the mob." Hardison informed the team, pulling up the images. "Then why haven't we ever heard of this guy?" Parker asked. "Yeah. A man like that seems like someone up our ally." Kaira pointed out. "Because to the rest of the world, Bennett Kimball was a pillar of Boston society... thanks to one very hardworking lawyer." Nate said. Hardison pulled up another image of the lawyer. He was kinda chubby-faced and tight curly grey hair. "Meet his longtime attorney, Peter Blanchard. This is an interesting guy. He's a blue-blood Harvard law graduate who turned into Kimball's personal janitor. Dude would pay off the cops, pay hush money, God knows what else." Hardison said. "And he was rewarded by being named the executor and sole beneficiary of Kimball's estate." Nate said. "See, Kimball didn't have any kids. He had a couple of ex-wives way, way back, but Blanchard's the closest thing he has to family." Hardison said. Eliot leaned back and Kaira did too, about on top of him. "Yeah, well, I guess this Blanchard guy didn't count on his client having such a giving side." Eliot said. "It's funny how that works." Nate said. He stood up and walked to the screens. "What happens to rich people when they know the end is near. It's really, really amazing. Okay, I don't know that we have a legal angle to play on this one, cause in three days, he is going to present the will in probate court and assume control of the estate." Nate said. "Leaving Ruth Walton's charity with nothing." Kaira pointed out. "Now, Blanchard was the keeper of Kimball's secrets, so... yeah, so that's our way in, right there." Nate said. "You want a skeleton from his closet." Parker pointed out. "Absolutely, and there's got to be tons of skeletons. I mean, we want something so scary that the mere mention of it makes this guy run for his checkbook. So, if that weren't hard enough, we've got the chaperone to think about." Nate said, walking away. "This one's gonna be difficult." Kaira pointed out, huffing.</p><p>Hardison drove Nate, Eliot, and Kaira to a prison, where they'd meet the lawyer and a potential skeleton. They all leaned against the van as Hardison looked at a file. "Tara Carlisle. She checks out. Civil-Rights lawyer, does a lot of pro bono work. Collects lost causes like kittens." Hardison said, closing the file. Just then a red car pulled up. Tara was a bit younger than Nate but looked like a sexy librarian. "Well, she's honest." Eliot said. "Crusader. Incorruptible. And one sexy librarian." Hardison said, slightly turned on at the sight of Tara getting out of the car. She waved at the group and Nate waved back, with Eliot fixing his glasses. Kaira was kinda amused. Nate walked over to her. "Guys, uh, I'd like you to meet Tara Carlisle. She's our client's attorney." Nate said as Tara walked over. "She's gonna be joining us today." Nate finished introducing their shadow as Tara shook hands with them. "I'm here because I believe we share a common goal. I just want to make sure it's done the right way. Now you said you have something be could use against Blanchard?" Tara said. "Okay, well, behind these prison walls -or, um, prison shrubs here is Kimball's former business partner P.J Orson. He's doing 10 years for embezzlement." Hardison was explaining as Kaira noticed the notepad Tara brought out. "Kimball's company paid 50,000 dollars to a company called Lemond Holdings back in 1980." Hardison finished explaining, looking at Nate for the explanation for the notepad. "That? Yeah. She does that. It's okay. Go ahead." Nate said. "Lamond Holdings is a Vegas front company for the mob." Hardison said. "Yeah, 50,000 dollars used to be the going rate for a contract killer in those days." Eliot pointed out. "You think Kimball paid to have somebody killed?" Tara questioned. "Well, either way, he wanted somebody gone. 50,000 is plenty to get somebody off the grid. Even in 1980." Kaira explained, getting a "seriously?" look from Tara. "Okay, now what we're gonna do right now is we're going to go undercover, and-" Nate was laying out the plan before Tara cut him off. "Well, why don't we go talk to Mr. Orson?" Tara asked. The team kinda chuckled. "Listen, sweetheart, I know mob guys. Call it personal experience. When you pay a mob guy to do a job, you keep your mouth shut. Either that or you get your kneecaps broken." Kaira pointed out, kinda amused about the innocence of Tara. "No, the best lie is the truth, Mr. Ford and Mrs. Spencer. I think if we go in there, and plead our case, Mr. Orson will want to talk to us." Tara said.</p><p>They walked in and Nate, Kaira, and Tara meet with Orson as Eliot and Hardison went in as prison guards. Tara talked to Mr. Orson, and he started laughing. She turned around and Kaira and Nate gave her an "I told you so" face. "Mr. Orson, I don't understand. If you tell me why you made that 50,000 dollar payment to Lamond Holdings, I could write a letter to the judge, possibly get your sentence reduced." Tara explained. Orson laughed again. "Reduced? This is minimum security. I love it here. No ex-wives hounding me for alimony. A great bunch of guys to hang with. I mean, why would I help you?" Orson laughed again. "Listen, sweetie, I got to go. I got a cooking class. You have a great day." Orson said. Karia quickly took the phone from Tara. "You know, P.J, do you really think these walls will protect you from your past? No one hides forever." Kaira gave a threatening glare before Orson hung up and walked away, kinda scared. Kaira got up and walked towards Nate. "Well... I guess that went pretty well. Okay, Hardison, Eliot, I want you to put the squeeze on Orson." Nate said before Kaira jumped in. "I got him worked up for you boys." Kaira said, kinda flirtatiously. "Parker, Kaira, case Blanchard's office. I want to know where he keeps his dirty files. You, why don't you come with me? I'm about to become a really terrible lawyer. You can watch." Nate said, going to walk away. Kaira and Tara soon followed behind.</p><p>They went to a courthouse, where Blanchard was. Parker and Karia had already arrived and started casing the building, finding their way through the vents. "Look, Blanchard's here at the same time you are. That's a coincidence." Tara said as Kaira chuckled. "No, no, we hacked into his online appointment schedule. I mean, yes, what a coincidence." Nate said. Kaira chuckled again. "Why don't you wait for me outside?" Nate told Tara. "What are you gonna do?" Tara asked Nate. "Make an appointment with - you'll see." Nate said. Kaira heard knocking and Nate talking in a weird accent. "Hi, there. Listen. Jimmy Popodokolos, Las Vegas. Attorney-at-law. I'm here to talk to the judge about the Kimball probate hearing." Nate said. "Okay, Mr. Popodokolos." A woman said. "Thank you. Yeah. Very important. Thank you." Nate said. Kaira knew Nate was getting Blanchard's attention. She was still casing the office with Parker. Kaira heard Eliot and Hardison go in the prison and get the lowdown. Kaira and Parker were at the end of the vents. Parker put a camera in the vent and pushed it through, finding the safe. Kaira then heard Eliot and Hardison set Orson up with a shiv that Eliot made and planted on him. Just then, Hardison started freaking out and Eliot tried to calm him down. Then Kaira heard Eliot reveal the surprise he put in the bunk of Orson. That was two marks on him. Then Eliot and Hardison mentioned Lamond Holdings. Kaira remembered the three-strikes rule. Kaira then heard Tara get a call from Orson about him freaking out. Kaira was glad it worked. "Alright, so Blanchard paid the mob 50,000 dollars to kill someone named George Gilbert for Kimball. This should be an interesting meeting." Nate said. Kaira went back to the office with Eliot and Hardison after picking them up from the prison.</p><p>The next day, Parker and Kaira were climbing through the vents as Hardison was at his computer looking for George Gilbert. "Nate, I've been searching for a George Gilbert with mob ties circa 1980, and I'm coming up empty. Are you sure your intel is correct?" Hardison asked Nate. "I'm positive. Listen, Hardison, if we cancel this meeting, we lose all credibility with Blanchard. All right? It's our only shot, so please, get me an answer." Nate said. "I got you. I got you." Hardison said. Kaira then heard Blanchard clearing his throat. "Peter Blanchard." He introduced himself. "Ah. Jimmy Popodokolos, uh... Esquire." Nate said. Parker and Kaira were at the vent. Parker was able to do a backbend and come back up. Kaira did the same. Parker then started working the safe. "I like to know who I'm dealing with. James Popodokolos. Graduated from University Nevada, Reno Law school, 1993. Took the Nevada bar exam three times. Disbarred two years ago." Peter said. Kaira chuckled. Of course, Hardison would make an identity that was so bad it was good. "No. Uh, suspended. Okay? It was turned into a suspension. Yeah. I mean, you can call them up. I'm good to go." Nate said. "What brings a suspended lawyer from Las Vegas to my office today?" Blanchard asked. "Can I just - you strike me as a Harvard man." Nate said, buying time. Parker was still on the safe. "Class of '77." Blanchard said. "I knew it. I'm sitting here, and I'm thinking what it must have been like for a guy like you, a Harvard man, to get those calls at three in the morning from Bennett Kimball - sports car wrapped around a tree, another pimp with an unpaid bill. See, I like to know who I'm dealing with, too." Nate said. "What do you want?" Blanchard asked. "I want to tell you a story... a story about a man who wrote a check for 50,000 dollars in 1980 to Lamond Holdings." Nate said. "I wrote a lot of checks to a lot of companies. So what?" Blanchard said. "So, well... I happen to know what the payment was for. So, you know, we can - we can do this game, or you can start talking compensation. And let's just get to it. All right, because it's what I do." Nate said.</p><p>"Nate, Nate, the payment was not for George Gilbert. It was for Georgia Gilbert. It wasn't a contract killing, man. I'm so - you - you got nothing." Hardison said. "Bra, you in there with nothing. Better talk about your mama." Hardison said. "Okay, I got you. Look. Georgia Gilbert - she was a stripper. She moved to Vegas back in 1980. Lamond Holdings was set up to pay her 50,000 dollars." Hardison said. "Georgia Gilbert. Name ring a bell? Stripper. Yeah, your blue blood client Kimball fell in love with a stripper, didn't he? I know what you did here. You sent her out to Vegas with 50,000 dollars that was laundered through a holding company. That's - I bet you didn't even tell Kimball something. Or if you did, what? She ran away?" Nate said. Kaira was impressed. "It was for his own good. He wanted to marry her for god's sake. Mr. Popodokolos, I will cede that it would have been a scandal. But Mr. Kimball is dead. I don't see the relevance." Blanchard said. "Damn." Kaira was impressed Nate figured that part out. "You don't see the relevance?" Nate asked. "No." Blanchard said. Karia heard finger tapping. "Georgia Gilbert was pregnant. Hmm? Is that relevant?" Nate asked. Karia was even more impressed. "Hardison, was she pregnant?" Karia asked as Parker was still cracking the safe. "Like, how would I know? I can't even find the girl's social security number. Just give me five seconds. Can I please have five seconds?" Hardison said. "How would you know? She wouldn't say anything. I mean, you sent her out to Vegas, and the local syndicate probably said, "We're gonna put you in the ground in cement if you ever contact Kimball." What you have here is a situation where your millionaire's natural born daughter has come out of the woodwork and wants a payout." Nate said. "Where is she?" Blanchard asked. "Who?" Nate asked. "The daughter." Blanchard answered. "The daughter of Georgia Gilbert?" Nate questioned. "Parker, you've got to go out. Hardison, I hope that identity is solid." Kaira said. "Is it safe to see her now?" Nate asked. Kaira and Parker got the hint. She got up and left, leaving Kaira to try to crack the safe. "Uh, yeah. Come on in." Nate said to Parker, bringing her in. "Mr. Blanchard. I'd like you to meet Lizzy Cantrell, born Lizzy Gilbert." Nate said, introducing Parker. "What was she doing out there?" Blanchard asked. "Um... stealing. She has a meth problem." Nate said. Kaira facepalmed herself. "I... do. I love meth." Parker said. Kaira rolled her eyes and tried to get the safe opened. "But she cleans up really nice for a judge. You know, and, oh, boy, when she starts crying about how, you know - growing up without a daddy, huh?" Nate said before Karia tuned the rest out and went back in the vents and crawled through them.</p><p>They arrived back at the office. "I was one digit away from cracking that safe. One digit." Parker said, going to sit down with a soda. "And I got the last digit but I couldn't actually type in the code. Ran out of time." Kaira said, sitting on the small couch with Eliot, sitting on him basically. "Yeah, no, this is much better than the safe." Nate said. "I got everything on Georgia Gilbert, and I mean everything." Hardison said. He clicked his remote and was leaning back on the couch. "She was born May 15, 1960. Graduated St. Mary's. She failed her driver's test three times." Hardison was saying as Kaira caught Nate looking at her driver's license application, which said she was colorblind. "She's color blind. She wears a size 6 dress, size 8 shoe, and how in the world did you know she was pregnant?" Hardison said, kinda impressed with Nate. "Wait, she was pregnant?" Kaira questioned curiously. "Yeah. Gave the baby up for adoption." Hardison said. "What happened to Georgia?" Parker asked. "She died in 1985. Cancer." Hardison informed the team. "Tough draw." Eliot said, sympathetic. "Shit. That is a tough draw." Kaira said kinda quietly. "Well, it wasn't really a guess. I mean, for decades, Kimball - he had a lot of women on the side. Avoided a lot of scandal, right? So what made him decide to marry Georgia Gilbert over all those women?" Nate said. "Blanchard paid her off, and Kimball just thought she ran out on him." Eliot said. "Damn. Kimball must've been so sad. I mean, he loved her enough to marry her, and then to just lose her like that? I would've probably killed myself looking for him if that happened to us." Kaira looked at Eliot, who placed a kiss on her cheek to calm her down. "Now, how did you know that the baby was a girl?" Hardison asked. "Oh. Oh, yeah. No, that - that was a guess. Yeah. Yeah." Nate said as Kaira and Hardison chuckled. "I mean, but, you know, that's a 50/50 deal." Nate said. "Why don't you find the real daughter?" Eliot asked. "Adoption records are sealed. Paper only. I have a reference number, but nobody can see inside. All this is good up until Blanchard wants a DNA test. I got to say, even with my bag of tricks, I can't rewrite Parker's genetic code." Hardison said. "So, we convince him that asking for the DNA test is the worse possible choice he could make." Kaira said. "How do we do that?" Eliot asked. "We don't." Nate said. He gave Tara a call and told her what to do. Nate met with Tara and told her she did a good job.</p><p>The next day, Nate drove Parker to a meeting place, and Karia and Eliot were on the other side of the meeting place on watch. "Ms. Carlisle, are you ready?" Nate asked in the phone. "Uh, I never thought I'd say this, but I hope your way works, Mr. Ford, because I don't think we have a case." Tara said. "By the time the hearing starts, we'll have a check in our hands." Nate said. Nate heard Nate and Parker get out of the car. "This is where he said." Parker said. Kaira and Eliot were walking past a construction vehicle when they saw an older man aiming a machine gun at Nate and Parker. Kaira started running and Eliot yelled at Nate, warning him. The gunman shot out the window of Nate's car. Kaira then picked up a rock and threw it at the gunman, knocking his shot off, shooting the tire of Nate's car, causing Nate and Parker to run behind the car. Eliot ran up to the gunman and grabbed the gun. The gunman went to punch Eliot in the gut, but then Eliot pulled the gun away, clocking the gunman in the jaw. Eliot then tossed the gun to Kaira as she disarmed it and Eliot challenged the gunman. "Come on." Eliot said, daring the gunman. The gunman went to punch Eliot, but Eliot dodged it and punched him in the face. They did it again, only this time Eliot flipped the guy over on the gravel road. Kaira went beside Eliot and held the gun in her hand. "You want this?" Kaira asked the gunman, who had gotten up and had blood coming down his nose. Kaira held it, acting like she was gonna shoot him. The gunman ran away. Kaira tossed the gun to Eliot, who made sure the gun was empty. "Well, he was convinced all right. Good plan." Parker said as Eliot tossed the gun behind him in the bushes. "No, no, no. This is good. This is good. Because, I mean, you know, we get you to the hearing, he'll cut us a check in the hallway just to keep you from getting in front of that judge. But just make sure that Parker, uh... make sure she gets to that hearing... no matter what." Nate said, breathing heavily as he was grabbing something from the car and running away.</p><p>The trio started running to Eliot's car. They drove near the courthouse and started running. Parker ran into a chessboard and lifted two pairs of sunglasses. She handed them to Eliot. "Are you kidding me?" Eliot put on the sunglasses. "Look at this." Eliot said. Parker had on white sunglasses and the trio kept walking. "Hardison, give me some good news." Nate said. "Oh, I got some great news for you. They just put out an APB on Parker. It says she's a late 20's caucasian woman who shot an officer, she's an addict, and she's armed. A trifecta." Hardison informed them. "Hardison, how good's the description of her?" Eliot asked. Just then a police car came up behind them. The trio stopped as Kaira groaned. "Pretty good." Parker retorted. They started running. Eliot and Parker lost the sunglasses and they ran into a side ally, knocking over trash cans. Just then Nate got a phone call from Blanchard, threatening him with Parker, saying she gunned down Lind, the gunman. Nate said it wouldn't hold up in court, but Blanchard asked if five to ten years of Parker's life was worth it, and that she should just go to Vegas and rot. "All right, Hardison, listen. Blanchard's headed to the courthouse. You got to delay him. Buy us some time." Nate ordered Hardison. "And how do you expect me to do that?" Hardison asked. "I don't know, use your imagination." Nate said. "Just use my imagination." Hardison said. He got to work with whatever he was doing. Eliot, Parker, and Kaira were at a dead end underneath the courthouse. "We're cut off. We're gonna have to get rough." Parker said. Eliot and Parker looked at each other. "I ain't hitting cops." Eliot said. "Me neither." Kaira said. Just then the door banged and there was shouting. "I look forward to seeing you explain that." Parker said. Hardison then planted keys on Blanchard. Kaira and Eliot hid as the police officer rounded the corner, pointing his gun at Parker. "Whoa. Take it easy. Take it easy." Parker said. Just then Kaira and Eliot came out. Kaira grabbed the gun and punched the officer with her elbow in the face. Eliot grabbed the gun and took the bullets out of it and threw it to the side. "All right. Be cool. All right. Nothing's gonna happen to anybody." Eliot said. "Just settle down." Kaira said before the cop went after Eliot, pulling out the taser. Eliot disarmed him and tossed the taser to Parker. "Not using the stun gun either." Eliot said. Eliot shoved him away and Parker pointed the taser at the cop. "Stop. Chill. All right? Nobody's gonna get hurt." Kaira said as Eliot went beside her, trying to calm the officer down. Just then another cop came from behind and drew his weapon. Parker then pointed the stun gun underneath her and fired it, causing the cop to scream and go to the floor. "Why would you do that?" Kaira asked, annoyed. "Seriously? What are you doing?" Eliot asked Parker. Parker shrugged her shoulders. Eliot turned to the cop. "Listen, it's probably best if you pretend that you never saw us." Eliot said. They started running and Parker shocked the cop again. Eliot slapped the taser out of Parker's hand and told her to stop. "Nate, I did all I could do, but -" Hardison said as Kaira heard Blanchard enter. It went silent a moment. "Nate, I hope you have a plan B or F or something in the first half of the alphabet." Hardison said. "Yes, but it depends on Ms. Carlisle." Nate said. Kaira could hear him running and breathing heavy. Kaira got nervous. "The librarian?" Hardison questioned. It was silent another moment as Kaira and Parker tried to find another way in the courthouse. "All right. Eliot, Karia, what's your 20?" Nate asked, going to security. "Every entrance is covered. Parker and Kaira are trying to find another way in." Eliot said. "Okay, Parker, Kaira, forget about the hearing. I need you two to do something else." Nate said. Nate told the duo what to do. Kaira and Parker went to do the thing as they tuned into Nate's entrance.</p><p>"Jimmy Popodokolos. Sorry for my tardiness." Nate said in character. "Judge, we're already underway here." Blanchard said. "And I don't want to go through this a second time. Mr. Popodokolos..." The female judge said. "That's me." Nate said. "... has filed that he represents a missing heir. I will hear him out." The judge said. "Now?" Nate questioned. "Mm-hmm. Yes, now." The judge said, wanting to move on. "Uh, yeah. Your honor, if you just give me a moment to collect my thoughts, gather my papers, and, yeah. And again, sorry for the tardiness. And, uh, I like a wise Latina judge. I like it." Nate said, stalling quietly at the end. "Thanks for keeping it going till I got here." Nate whispered. "You can't pretend to be a lawyer in a courtroom." Tara whispered. "Well, stick around. I'm about to practice medicine too." Nate said, whispering. "Your honor, I'd like to offer into evidence these documents showing a payment that Mr. Blanchard made to a Georgia Gilbert, a woman I contend bore Mr. Kimball's child." Nate said to the judge. "Yes, your honor. Mr. Popodokoli-" Blanchard was sayin before Nate butt in. "It's Popodokolos." Nate corrected. "Pokododolos. Pop - Pop-" Blanchard tried correcting it. "Popodokolos." Nate corrected. "This man spun these fairy tales in my office. It's a shakedown from a disbarred..." Blanchard argued, getting upset. "Suspended." Nate corrected. "Ambulance chaser from Las Vegas! And he says that he found Bennett Kimball's daughter. So, I only have one question for him. Where is she?" Blanchard said, getting angry. It was silent for a moment. "I could produce her, your honor. If you just allow me to ask the witness one question, one question to the witness." Nate said. Kaira wondered where Nate was going with this. "Please." The judge said. "Okay?" Nate asked for confirmation. "Ask." Blanchard said, annoyed. "Thank you, your honor." Nate paused a moment.</p><p>"Ms. Walton... what color is my tie?" Nate asked. Kaira was confused. "I don't know. I'm colorblind." Ruth said. There was another pause from Nate as the team wondered where this was going. "Hmm. Colorblind. You're, uh... ah. yes. What I have here, your honor- these are the medical records for Bennett Kimball, which Mr. Blanchard here was kind enough to offer into evidence... which he was. Now, it states that Mr. Kimball is colorblind. Hmm. Now what we have here is - it says that Georgia Gilbert is color blind. On the Massachusetts application for a driver's license." Nate explained. Kaira wondered what this meant. "Now, it's rare for a woman to be colorblind. It takes a colorblind father, and a colorblind mother to produce a child who is colorblind." Nate said. Kaira knew what he was implying. Ruth Walton was the daughter of Bennett Kimball, and the rightful heir to the estate. "Wait, are - are you saying that I'm Bennett Kimball's daughter?" Ruth asked Nate. "Your honor, now he's testifying." Blanchard said, trying to blow off what Nate said. "You opened the door, counselor." The judge said. "It's no coincidence, is it, that you started a program helping foster kids get adopted. No coincidence. Is it, Ruth Walton?" Nate said. "No. I was adopted myself." Ruth said. "Yes, in 1982. You were two years old. State of Nevada." Nate said. "Yes." Ruth said. And just in a snap, all the pieces fell into place. "And the last time you saw Bennett Kimball, he called you by a different name, didn't he? What was it?" Nate asked. Kaira was amazed he got all of that from a driver's license application. "G.G. Yeah? Georgia Gilbert. G.G. Hmm? That's who he was looking at when he saw you that day. Your birth mother... the woman he loved and lost in 1980. Your honor... Bennett Kimball didn't call Ms. Walton here out of the blue to donate money to her charity. He searched for her. He searched for his daughter." Nate said. "I move to strike Mr. Popodokos' evidence from the record based on the fact that I haven't been able to get adequate time to review these outlandish claims and prepare a proper response." Blanchard said, trying to salvage his case. "Popodokolos." Nate corrected. "Popodokolos!" Blanchard yelled, obviously angry. "I agree, your honor. And I would also like to add a motion to compel a DNA test to put to rest any doubt that my client is Mr. Kimball's daughter. The truth will win out." Tara said. "Motion granted. When we get the results, I expect I will be awarding Ms. Walton the Kimball estate. We're adjourned." The judge said, banging her gavel. Parker and Kaira had arrived just a bit before. Nate looked proud of himself and Blanchard was still cocky. "You honestly think this will hold up?" Blanchard asked. "You know, for a Harvard man, you're not too sharp there. You know, you tried to keep Kimball's daughter out of the courtroom, she walked right in the front door." Nate said. Parker and Kaira walked up to Blanchard. "Sorry, we're late." Parker said. "We were just in your office cleaning out your safe." Kaira said, kinda cocky. "Those files - whoo! - That was a lot of dirt. I gave them to your special cop friend." Parker said. "Oh, who's not too happy with you, by the way, since you shot him. I guess you can't pay him off with any of the Kimball Estate money." Nate said. "Oh, and anyone who took ninth-grade biology will know about how inheritance of genes works." Kaira retorted as the cops put the cuffs on Blanchard. "What the hell is this? Hey, you don't understand! These people are thieves! I don't even think that one's a lawyer! And if he's Greek, I'm Aristotle!" Blanchard yelled as he was being dragged out of the courtroom. Ruth looked relieved and shocked. "So, do you still think the law is the only pathway to justice?" Nate asked Tara. "Now more than ever. I'd like to think that you learned something from me today." Tara said, leaving. Kaira chuckled. "Certainly." Nate said as he threw the file on the table. They left and went back to the bar.</p><p>The next night, they met back at the bar and got drinks as Nate talked with Ruth after finding out that indeed, Ruth Walton was Bennett Kimball's daughter. They sat down together. "So, um, where's, uh... where's your lawyer? I thought, you know, she'd be with you today you know, celebrating the win." Nate said. "My lawyer? I never met her before this week. She told me she was with you." Ruth said. The team was surprised. They told Ruth goodbye and they went up to Nate's apartment. They walked in and all stopped once they saw Tara. Only, she had on black leggings, black leather knee-high boots, and a grey tank top, her legs crossed, holding an envelope. "Took you long enough." Tara said. "Who are you?" Eliot asked, getting defensive. "Tara Cole. I'm a friend of Sophie's." Tara said as the team went up to her and she handed the envelope to Nate. "She said you guys were short-handed, asked me to help. It's all in there." Tara said. Nate continued walking, opening the envelope as the quartet surrounded Tara. "So, you help out by lying to us?" Hardison asked. "I wanted to see just how good you really are and show you just how good I am. You can consider it my audition." Tara said. "Pretty ballsy." Kaira said, impressed. She smiled. "I like it." Kaira said. Tara gave her a half-cocked smile. "I bet you're not even a lawyer." Parker said. "Oh. Sophie was right. You are adorable." Tara said, amused. "Excuse me?" Parker said. Just then the trio started arguing and Kaira tried to calm them down. "Hey. Hold on! Hey, hey! Guys, guys." Nate got their attention, turning around. "She's right. Sophie did send her. And Sophie asked us to give Tara here a shot." Nate handed the letter to Hardison, and him and Parker looked at it. "Well played. Welcome aboard." Nate said, extending his hand for Tara to shake. "Thanks." Tara said. She chuckled as grabbed Parker's arm as she was leaving. "Adorable." Tara said. She neared the door. "Whoa, whoa, hold up. Mnh-mnh. Hold up, hold up. What is this?" Hardison questioned Tara. "Oh, that's my invoice. For my cut of the inheritance." Tara explained. The team gave her dirty looks. "Hey, I'm not a candy stripper. This is my job." Tara said. Nate nodded his head, indicating to go ahead with the payment. Tara smiled. "There. See? We're getting paid already. It's gonna be fun." Tara said, laughing. "You know, we don't do this for the money!" Kaira called out as Tara walked out the door. shutting it behind her. "How did I miss that?" Karia questioned herself. The team turned back around and all looked at Nate, not totally happy with the situation. This was gonna get interesting.</p><p>Kaira then went back to her and Eliot's apartment and sat at the breakfast nook with a glass of wine. She pulled out her cellphone. She looked at the contacts and saw Sophie's name. Kaira exhaled and pressed call. It rang, but Sophie didn't answer. It went to voicemail. "Hey, Soph. It's me. I'm sorry for calling you. I know Nate said we wouldn't call again. But, I need to get something off my chest. Sophie, a name doesn't define who you are. Your heart and soul does. That's the reason I became friends with you Sophie. And yeah, I'm a little pissed at you Soph. You decided to leave after my wedding! You walked me down the aisle! I was so happy, I couldn't forget it for the life of me. But then you told me you were leaving. And you know what happened? I got shitfaced on wine and whiskey! I don't remember getting home that night. Eliot had to fill in the blanks for me. I never get wasted. And I don't blame you. I blame myself for not trying to convince you to stay. And thank you for sending Tara. She's good. Fooled me." Kaira paused, taking a breath. "I'm sorry that I couldn't help you. I wish there was something I could do to tell you that it's okay to question who you are. But, Soph, there are people here that need you. We miss you like crazy. I miss you." Kaira started tearing up. She calmed down. "I'm sorry Soph. Do me a favor. Don't tell Nate I called?" Kaira ended the message and held her phone. She put it up to her face and started crying. She missed Sophie. She missed the tips, the bad acting, and the motherly feel she had. Time would only tell if Sophie was returning. Kaira wished she had a time machine.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! So, as you now know, this is the introduction of Tara Cole, one of my favorite repeat characters on the show, played expertly by the lovely Jeri Ryan. I have some fun interactions planned between Tara and Kaira, so this out to be fun! Remember to share and comment if you liked this chapter! As always, much love to you all! Stay Safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. The Runway Job (2x10)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team has a new member and a new job. A young Chinese woman, Florence, od'd on vitamins given to her by her employer at a sweatshop. She approaches Nate, asking for help in getting money to get her parents over from China. In order to take down the corrupt couple in charge, the team takes over a fashion show. With the team cautious of new grifter Tara, and with Kaira being the only one trusting her, this job could cause tensions between everyone.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you have been enjoying this series so far! I've enjoyed writing it! I have another series on Wattpad called "Uncharted: El Dorado" if you want to check it out. Without further adieu here is chapter 10 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot went to the office after Hardison called them in. He got a video conference with Sophie started as Nate met with the client. "He says he's cool with her, but you know how he is." Hardison said, expressing his concern. "The way she introduced herself - that was a smooth con." Parker said. "I agree." Kaira butted in. "Yeah, but it didn't exactly build trust." Eliot said. Kaira gave Eliot a look. "Look, we didn't get along when we first started. Eliot, how long did it take before you trusted me?" Sophie asked. Eliot had a look and didn't respond. "Hmm? Eliot, you do trust me, don't you?" Sophie asked. "That's not the point, Sophie. If Nate doesn't like this chick, then it's not gonna work." Eliot pointed out. "Yeah, which is why you've got to get him on board. Look, you need a grifter besides Kaira. The last time one of you tried to grift..." Sophie said. Kaira's face changed to annoyance. "Don't remind me. Me and Eliot were the ones that had to bail his ass out." Kaira retorted, not happy it was brought up. "That's this brother right here." Eliot pointed to Hardison. "Hardison." Parker said at the same time. "Uh, we - we still can't let that go?" Hardison questioned, a bit of betrayal in his voice. "Listen to me. Tara Cole is the best. I wouldn't have sent her if I didn't trust her. And I know you're gonna love her. So just - just give her a chance." Sophie said. "She is hot." Eliot said quietly. "Very hot." Hardison whispered. "Hot." Parker said. Kaira just rolled her eyes. "Men." Kaira quipped, getting a "sorry" look from Eliot. Kaira chuckled. "Warm? Cold? Why are we staring?" Parker said, seeing the looks the team gave her. "Yeah, I'm not saying you should throw her at him. I'm just saying, get him on board. Look, he doesn't always know what's good for him. And even if he does, he doesn't do anything about it. He just lets it walk straight out the door and-" Sophie said, implying something obvious to the team. "Like all the way to Europe?" Eliot questioned, popping his lips at the end. Sophie sighed, smiling. "Just do it for me, huh? So I don't have to worry about you." Sophie said. Just then Nate and Tara arrived. Kaira smiled at them and said Hi as Eliot said, "Touchdown." acting like they were watching the game. Parker and Kaira both looked at the monitor. "I just miss you." Parker whispered. Kaira mouthed, "I miss you." just as Hardison turned off the monitor. They all sat down, with Parker on the recliner, throwing the remote at Hardison, who sat on the couch with Eliot and Kaira, who was sitting next to each other. Tara sat next to Eliot and Nate was at the monitor. "Okay, run it." Nate ordered. "Gloria and Russell Pan. Self-made millionaires. They built their fortune off a company that produces cheap knockoffs of the latest fashions. The bargain bin has been very good to the Pans. They got a nice car, big house in Brookline. Gloria here - she works the factory floor. She designs all the clothes. Russell, he handles all the accounting and works with the partners in China." Hardison said, briefing the team. "Okay, Gloria designs the clothes. Does she have any training?" Nate asked Hardison, pacing slightly. "She did a correspondence course with a fashion school. And she subscribes to all the magazines - Vogue, InStyle, Fashion &amp; Style. She, uh, she submitted to <em>Project Runway</em>." Hardison answered. "Last year?" Parker asked. "Last three years." Hardison answered. "Okay. That's our way in. We're gonna sell Gloria Pan..." Nate said. He pointed at Tara. "Her dream. Yeah, no, I get it." Tara got up and started walking over to Nate at the screens. "I mean, the word "con" comes from "confidence", right? So we got to build her confidence, make her think she's the greatest designer in the world." Tara explained. "There you go." Nate said. "How?" Eliot asked. "How? We need a Caprina." Nate said, walking away. Tara had a confused look on her face. "W-what does that... so he just says things and then walks away?" Tara questioned. "Yeah. Something to get used to." Kaira retorted, amused slightly. Parker, Hardison, and Tara walked away, leaving Eliot and Kaira on the couch. They both smiled and then got to work setting up the cover.</p><p>Tara and Parker got photos done to make Tara their Caprina. Hardison then edited the photos on a magazine and Parker later took the magazine and planted it in the house. Kaira and Hardison did some overlay work for Gloria's DVR recordings. Nate and Tara watched the last of the recordings. Parker returned later. They got changed and met with Tara, who was wearing a black leather strapless dress and her hair in curls with black boots. Kaira was already downstairs in her dress. It was a short purple strapless dress and a fake shoulder tattoo that was intricately designed. Kaira put it on by herself earlier. She was putting on her shoes with Tara. She was wearing back boots with a heel on them. Kaira heard footsteps and turned. She saw Hardison in a plaid scarf and a bright orange three quarter length shirt and jeans. Eliot was wearing black leather pants, a wine-colored shirt, a white tank top underneath, and a white scarf thing. And he had his hair up and eyeliner. Kaira laughed at her husband's change of looks. Eliot gave Kaira a look that showed he didn't like his wife laughing at him. Hardison went over to Tara to hand her a sketchbook. "It's Caprina's sketchbook. No designer would be without it." Hardison said. Tara looked through the book. Kaira looked at it too. She was the one who drew the designs. "Tell me about Fashion Week." Eliot said, walking over, flipping up his collar to put the scarf on. "The big designers use it to launch their new collections, but it's mainly a showcases for rising stars. The investors are always looking for the next big thing." Tara said before Kaira cut it. "Yeah. Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, Andre V all got their start at Fashion Week." Kaira finished. Tara looked impressed. "What? I'm a grifter. I know fashion." Kaira pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. They all looked at Eliot. Eliot looked at them. "What?" Eliot questioned. Kaira held in a laugh. "Is that - is that mascara dude? You got on guyliner, man." Hardison said. "Man -" Eliot tried to say when Hardison cut him off. "And the leather pants? What the -" Hardison finished before Eliot continued. "This is - listen - this is fashion-y." Eliot defended himself. "If your Steven Seagal." Hardison retorted. "Babe, is that my eyeliner?" Kaira asked her husband. Eliot got a look on his face as Tara started chuckling. "No." Eliot said, implying it actually was. "Okay, back in we go. Come on." Kaira said, standing up and going next to Eliot, grabbing her makeup. Eliot took off the scarf as Hardison stammered. "Babe, why would you put on my eyeliner and mascara? Without my help?" Kaira questioned, more concerned that Eliot didn't ask her for help. "Don't. Don't." Eliot warned Hardison as Kaira walked with him out. "Not everybody can rock the scarf." Hardison said. "I was gonna say Steven Tyler, but Seagal works." Tara said. She started laughing. "I... it's a bold choice man. I respect it." Hardison called out. Kaira and Eliot went to their apartment and Kaira led Eliot to the bathroom.</p><p>She sat him down on the edge of the tub and sat her makeup on the sink counter. "Sweetheart, what are you doing?" Eliot asked. Kaira grabbed a Q-tip and poured eye makeup remover on it. "I'm gonna remove that eyeliner and redo it properly." Kaira said. She put the Q-tip up to Eliot's eye, but he flinched. "What is that?" Eliot asked, not happy. "Uh... makeup remover. Just stay still." Kaira said. She took of the eyeliner Eliot had on and fixed it. "How do you know how to do makeup?" Eliot asked as Kaira put her makeup away. "When I did theater in high school, this girl Jillian taught me. I had to put a lot of makeup on boys who were clueless." Kaira said, smiling as she looked at Eliot. "Boys wore makeup?" Eliot asked Kaira. "Yeah. The mascara and eyeliner helps show the eyes under the bright lights and the foundation gets rid on glossiness." Kaira explained. Kaira felt something wasn't quite right with Eliot's outfit. She soon figured it out. Kaira smiled as she leaned on Eliot and pulled out the hair tie. She put it on the counter. She ran her fingers through Eliot's hair to fluff it a bit. "Better." Kaira smiled. Eliot was not happy but still smiled at his wife. Kaira pulled Eliot into a kiss. Eliot kissed back. They chuckled as they heard Tara coming in, yelling at them to hurry up. They chuckled and got up and left. "So, how long have you two been married?" Tara asked them. Kaira chuckled as they walked down the hallways, heading to the cars. "Um... like three weeks almost." Kaira answered and Eliot confirmed. "Yeah. God, it's been that long already?" Eliot turned to Kaira. "Yeah." Kaira realized, chuckling. "What gave it away?" Kaira asked Tara. "Well, the rings were obvious. When we met, Kaira was slightly jealous but kept quiet. If it wasn't for the rings, I would have guessed committed relationship. But Eliot quickly backed off after our first meet, which means you like to look, but you would never act because you love your wife." Tara said. Kaira and Eliot were both impressed. "Sounds about right." Kaira and Eliot said. They got in the cars and drove to fashion week and got ready to set the bait.</p><p>Kaira was making sure that everything was set inside fashion week. "No, no, I like the purple, but I need something that will hold up to ruching, yeah?" Tara had an Italian accent. "Something. uh - this perhaps!" Tara said, dropping her sketchbook. "Did you invite Marcel to the show? You know how touchy he gets." Tara said to Eliot. "Excuse me, is this your..." Gloria came up to them. "Gratzie! My designs, my dreams! For a designer, this is sacred." Tara said, grateful. "Oh, I know." Gloria said. "Ah, you are artiste, too, huh?" Tara asked Gloria. "Yes. Yes, I am. I'm Gloria Pan. And can I say, I'm a great admirer." Gloria said, introducing herself. Kaira got the impression Gloria was just kissing ass to impress "Caprina". "So kind. I'm sure your work is, uh, wonderful too. May I?" Tara asked. Gloria got excited. "Really?" Gloria asked. "Uh, please." Gloria said. Tara faked being impressed at Gloria's designs. "So lovely! Such bold use of buckles! Huh?" Tara said, stroking Gloria's ego. "I call it Pilgrim Chic." Gloria said. Kaira tried to keep a straight face. "Who are you with? Gucci? Dior?" Tara asked Gloria. "I'm independent." Gloria said as Eliot's phone rang. "We must go." Eliot said. "We must talk more. Come to the run-through for my show. I insist. Julian, tick-tock." Tara said. "You mean Fashion Week?" Gloria asked. "Of course. That is why I am in town. That is why all of the designers are in town. And bring your sketches, huh? There are people you must meet." Tara said. Tara said her goodbye, the Italian way, and walked away with Eliot. "Okay, she's on the hook." Tara whispered in her normal voice. "Great. Let's go steal a fashion show." Nate said. "Steal a fash- does he always talk like that?" Tara questioned. "Hell yes." Kaira retorted on comms. "You're on comms." Eliot pointed out. "Uh, you do know I can hear you." Nate said. They went back to the office and got ready for the next day. They went to Fashion Week and got ready. Nate was gonna be Caprina's sponsor, Kaira was his assistant, and Hardison was an editor for a fashion magazine. Parker was in as a monitor. "Am I all clear?" Parker asked. "12 channels, 120 assistants. My logic filter's telling me the traffic is being directed by somebody named Kerry." Hardison said. "Mm." Nate acknowledged. "Go." Hardison cued Nate. "Oh, yeah, Kerry, uh, this is Leon from parking. It seems there's a George Armani here who's very upset because his parking space is misspelled." Nate said. He paused a moment. "Okay, Parker, you're up." Nate cued up Parker. "Hey, you! Yeah, you. The models are out of menthol and the green room water is cold, not room temperature." Parker said. "And that's my problem how?" The lady asked. Parker slammed the table. "Were you at the morning update? Because I think Kerry will be very, very interested in who was and was not at that mandatory meeting." Parker said, scarring the poor girl. "Kerry? Mandatory? This morning?!" The check-in girl said. Parker sighed. "Yeah." Parker said. She sighed again. "Accessing printer." Hardison said. "Tell me you have a new guest list." Parker said, acting done. "Kerry printed it out in the meeting!" Parker yelled. It was silent for a moment. "I didn't even see this." The check-in girl said. There was a pause. "Listen. Maybe Kerry doesn't have to... know about this?" The check-in girl said, almost begging to keep her job. "Oh, yeah, see, uh..." Parker was saying. "Parker, remember be nice." Kaira warned. "Just this once." Parker said. Just as Parker walked away, Kaira and Eliot walked over to get the passes that Parker planted in the box. "Hello." Kaira smiled and got the check-in girls attention. "Passes, please, for Caprina." Eliot said. The check-in girl checked the name on the sheet and marked it, then handed Eliot the passes from the box that Parker planted. Eliot stared for a bit too long for Kaira's liking. She walked away and Eliot followed behind. Eliot then went to gather Gloria and brought her into the runway to meet with Tara.</p><p>Eliot told Gloria to wait as he left as Kaira and Nate walked in. "Preenie, Preenie. You've outdone yourself once again." Nate said in a European accent, walking in with Hardison as Eliot got Tara's attention. "The fall line is going to be fantastic." Nate said as he greeted Tara, kissing each other's cheeks. Kaira and Tara did the same. Nate was in a black cardigan type thing and a sweater underneath and a white-collar and charcoal and black tie and a chain and a pendant, waving a fan, and earrings, and small glasses. Tara was in a simple black dress and her hair in a ponytail, held with a wide diamond studded clip. Kaira was in a simple charcoal grey dress with black heels and her hair in a French braid. She had a diamond necklace and rings. Tara looked at a model, showing her distaste. "No, no, the hair - not up! Not up. Loose. In curls. Up, it looks like someone is, uh, squeezing your forehead for juice." Tara told the model as Caprina. The model left, not happy. "Baby, get us the exclusive. Look - 12 pages, September issue. How does that sound?" Hardison asked Tara in character. "It sounds like you." Tara said, pinching Hardison's cheek. "You know, I want to talk about you make-" Nate was saying before Tara jumped him. "No, no, I don't like to talk money." Tara told Nate. "Yes, but you know I do." Nate told Tara. Gloria then cleared her throat, causing Tara to turn around. "Ah, Glenda! Come, come, come come." Tara said, waving Gloria over. "Gloria. Gloria Pan." Gloria corrected. "Of course. This is Nigel Marshall Thorn, editor of Fashion &amp; Style Magazine. Huh?" Tara introduced Hardison's alias before turning to introduce Nate. "And this crass little capitalist is Jacques Bouvier, my sponsor and his assistant, Marie." Tara introduced Nate and Kaira. Nate faked getting a text about the designer that he was "sponsoring". "Glenda here is quite the artiste herself. Show Nigel your sketchbook." Tara said. Gloria handed Hardison the sketchbook as Nate read the text message. "Ah, no, no, no, no, no." Nate said, looking at his phone. "What is wrong? What? What?" Tara asked Nate. "What is it Jacque?" Kaira asked in her normal voice. "Oh! No, my - my - my young designer, who is going to be at the newcomer showcase at the end of fashion week - arrested." Nate informed them. "Drugs in the car?" Hardison asked as Nigel. Kair pretended to look at the phone as Nate got upset. "Hooker in the hotel." Karia answered, showing she wasn't happy and the phone. "Ohh." Tara breathed, feeling bad. "He was to be my great discovery. Ohh." Nate said, kinda whinny as Tara went to hug him to comfort him. "Oh..." Tara let go. "I don't know what to do. I - you know - what that boy could do with a buckle." Nate said as Kaira caught Gloria perking up. "You know, Ms. Pan's designs are not bad." Hardison said as Kaira pretended to walk over to look as well. Kaira tried to hide the fact that the designs were horrible. "I'm gonna have to cancel the tv crews." Nate blurted out. "I do have experience in the business." Gloria said. "And the reality program was going to come and do it, as well." Nate said, starting a tangent. Kaira pretended to be annoyed as Tara started comforting Nate. "No, no, no, Jacques - puppy, puppy, stop babbling for a second and listen to Nigel, huh?" Tara said before Kaira acted like she had a lightbulb moment. "You could show Ms. Pan's designs at the showcase, Mr. Bouvier." Kaira suggested. Nate looked at Kaira like she was crazy. "Her?" Nate started stammering. "You - you must be joking." Nate said before Kaira grabbed the notebook and set it on the runway. "Think of what a coup it would be, huh? Out of the ashes of scandal, Jacques Bouvier discovers a diamond in the rough." Tara said, pitching the idea. "But... she's so... old." Nate said, getting a sad look from Gloria. "Not like you're any younger." Kaira retorted, getting a seriously look from Nate, Tara, and Hardison. "Tragically so, but Gloria Vanderbilt didn't sell her first pair of jeans until she was 40 - ew - but people eat these stories. They do. They eat 'em up." Hardison said, also pretending to pitch the idea. "No, I know - look, the publicity, yeah, would be worth millions. Yeah, I understand, but... I don't know. It's so-" Nate was saying before Tara kept telling Nate to look at the designs. Nate sighed. "Do you have more?" Nate asked Gloria. "Yes, yes, the rest are on my computer at work. If you'd like to come to my office..." Gloria said. "I mean, I must be out of my mind, but I must get something up on this designer showcase. Yeah. Okay. Well, let's see what Gloria Pan-Dervilt has to offer, yeah." Nate said before telling them to go, but Nate told Kaira to stay behind with Hardison. Kaira and the gang at the fashion show just made sure that everything was running smoothly and that their covers were still intact.</p><p>Kaira then met up with Eliot and was flirting, waiting for Nate to give them instructions an hour later. "Eliot, I need you to go to the Pans' factory. Take Kaira with you." Nate said. Eliot remained silent as he was smiling at Kaira. "Eliot? Kaira?" Nate got their attention. "Right now? Look, I got to be honest with you, man. I think she's gonna come back to fashion week, okay? I got a sense about these things." Eliot told Nate. Kaira smiled at Eliot, who smiled back. "We're on our way." Kaira said, getting a "seriously" look from Eliot. They left the fashion show and went to the factory. Along the way, Nate and Parker checked out the house, which exploded before they got to investigate. Luckily, no one was in the building and Nate and Parker had Hardison figure out who was in the car. Eliot and Kaira were checking the office. Eliot was at the desk looking at files as Kaira kept looking out on watch. "Nate, I got bank statements here listing Sunbright Holdings as a joint account holder with the Pans -" Eliot was saying as Tara busted in the office, going up to Eliot. "Wait, show me that." Tara said, grabbing the papers from Eliot. He exhaled annoyed as he stood up. Kaira went over to look at the papers as well. "Uh, what is she doing there?" Nate asked. Tara got excited about something. "Wait, tell Nate I know this corporate I.D prefix! It's from Shanghai!" Tara yelled, causing feedback and winching from the couple as the comms hissed. "Tara, you don't have to yell. Nate can hear you." Kaira retorted, not happy with Tara barging in. "Just tell him." Tara said, unsure of the problem. "I'm looking at the footage our camera caught at the Pan's house right before the explosion. Sending now." Hardison said. "Who's planting that bomb?" Nate asked. "Eliot! Tara! Kaira! Get out of there!" Nate yelled. Eliot and Kaira both had looks on their faces. "What?" Tara questioned the couple. "We gotta go." Eliot said. "What?" Tara questioned. "We got to go." Kaira said as she opened the door, with Eliot getting Tara out.</p><p>They walked down the steps and slowed down when a silver panel opened, revealing three guys in suits. Chinese guys too. "Nate, we got three guys here..." Eliot said as they pulled out cleavers. "Armed with cleavers. Triad." Kaira pointed out with Tara looking at her impressed. "The Triads. Yeah. We're a minute away." Nate said. "The Chinese Triads?" Parker questioned. "They control the global counterfeit-clothing market. Worth billions to them - even more than narcotics." Nate explained. "So we didn't take money from the Pans. We took money from the Triads." Parker realized. "And the last person holding their cash was Eliot." Nate said as the trio at the factory inched to the side aisle. Kaira said beside Eliot as he moved Tara behind him. "Cleavers. Haven't done that in a while, babe." Eliot turned to Kaira. "Yeah. Let's see what I remember." Kaira said, still inching down the aisles as the Triad goons were following them. "All right, listen. These rows are narrow. Okay? They're gonna have to come at me one at a time. You just stay close." Eliot told Tara. "You're telling me what to do?" Tara said, running off. "Yeah, don't - wait. What are you - Tara. Tara." Eliot said as she went another side aisle and put her hands up as Kaira inched to another aisle. "Please!" Tara said as she started crying. "Please, please! I don't want to die. Please!" Tara cried. A man was heard speaking Chinese. Then Tara pushed a bin, knocking the guy in the bin. Then Tara grabbed the iron nearby and hit the goon across the head with it. She looked at Kaira and Eliot, who showed they were impressed. Then a goon went after Eliot. He dodged the cleaver and used a mannequin bust to stop the cleaver. Just then goon three went after Kaira. She dodged the cleaver swings and used a nearby basket to "grab" the cleaver and then knocked the guy out. Kaira was breathing heavily as she looked at her husband and friend. Both were okay. "Nate, I just got a shot of the Pans' car. Gloria is traveling solo. I guess Russel didn't make it out. Poor bastard got blown to bits." Hardison said. Kaira kept listening as she watched the guys who were out. "All right, yeah. Russell Pan handles the finances. Did we do a full background check on Russell Pan? You stay out here in case this goes south, be the getaway car." Nate said. "Of course we did. Driver's license, birth certificate, hospital records business records - he's Russell Pan." Hardison said. "Yeah, but did we make sure that Russell Pan isn't anybody else as well?" Nate asked. Kaira got what Nate had thrown down. "Aw, hell." Hardison said, realizing he missed that. Just then, Tara's guy got up and Tara had the cleaver.</p><p>Then Eliot and Kaira ran over, disarming the guy and double-teaming up on the goon. Tara headbutted him and he was out. Eliot looked at Tara. "Admit it. You kind of like me now." Tara said, walking away. Eliot and Kaira followed. "Guys, guys, I just got a hit on an Interpol database. Russell Pan's face matches a one Nicholas Chow. Chinese national. Works for the Sun Yee On Triad. Counterfeit clothing, black market, he's known for burying his enemies alive. This is a bad dude." Hardison said as the trio kept walking. They heard footsteps and more goons came from another side door. "You got to be kidding me." Eliot said as most of the goons pointed pistols at the trio. Then Russell aka Nicholas revealed himself. "Guys, we're staring at Nicholas right now." Kaira whispered as Nicholas walked towards them, signaling his guys to hold. The trio started backing up. "Pardon! Pardon!" Kaira heard Nate's European accent. It was Nate. Kaira was glad to see Nate. The guys cocked their guns as the trio had their hands up. "S'il Vous plaît. Hello. Jacques Bouvier. Good to see you again. Yeah. Hello. Guns. Yeah, uh..." Nate was saying as he stood in between the trio. "Last time I saw you, we were here for a business meeting with your wife. Yeah, this is all a big misunderstanding." Nate said, trying to settle things down. "That cow of a wife gave you something of mine - 50,000 dollars U.S." Nicholas said. "Yes, this was for a show, this was a business, uh..." Nate tried to explain when Nicholas interrupted. "For 20 years, I carried her. I brought over the cheap labor from China. I supplied the Asian markets. All she had to do was copy the fashions. But no, you sold the woman on a ridiculous dream. So I had to get rid of her. Now, I am responsible to my superiors for that money. Where is it?" Nicholas said, getting in Nate's space. "Guys, sit tight. Tell Chow or - or - Pan - Pot, skillet - whatever his name is - that his money is on the way. It'll be there in 15 minutes." Hardison said. Kaira was going to speak, but Nate spoke before she could. "Well, uh... we don't have the money." Nate said. Kaira and Tara gave Nate a look. "The money's gone, yeah. We spent it on the vendors for Gloria's show, yeah?" Nate said. "Did you not hear what I just said? I'm on my way with the money." Hardison reiterated, slower. "We could get it-" Kaira said before Nate cut her off. "Yeah, the money's gone." Nate said. Kaira looked at Nate annoyed as Nicholas shouted in Chinese angrily. The goons recocked the guns. Nate put his hands up, repeating to wait. "Now, wait, listen to me one second before you - what if I was able to give you something worth much more than the 50,000 dollars? What if I was able to give you the designs for next fall's collections today? Yeah, that's right. you could get your factories churning out the knockoffs way before the competition. This would be worth millions to you in - in additional revenue - millions!" Nate proposed. Kaira wondered what the hell Nate was doing. "And how are you going to do this?" Nicholas asked. "We have access to the fashion week, uh, shows. I mean I could get Julian and Marie to steal a major designer's designs." Nate said. "So I let you go, you run to the police, and I get nothing. No deal." Nicholas said. Nate tried to say something, but then Tara spoke. "You can keep me as collateral." Tara said. "No, no, no. Wait. No, no. This is not necessary. No, no." Nate said, objecting. Nicholas signaled his guy to grab Tara. "Hell no! We aren't going to go to the police!" Kaira tried to object before Nate grabbed her before she went after Nicholas. The goon brought Tara over to where the goons were. "We'll keep the woman. You bring us the designs, or... we'll kill her. You have one hour." Nicholas said. "I'm telling you, get him what he wants, huh? It's just 50 grand. That's what this is about, huh? 5-0. Capisce? 5-0." Tara said. Kaira noticed Tara stressed 5 and 0. Nate caught it too. "Let's go before I kill them myself." Kaira said, hissing, turning with Eliot and Nate to walk away. They left and drove back to the office to make a plan.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were silent the whole time. Neither of them was happy. They gathered around the table where Hardison had his laptop. "You could've just given Russell the money." Hardison said, not happy. "If - if we'd given him the money, we would have gone back to the client with nothing." Nate said, defending his choice to leave Tara behind. "Because that's what it's about - a chance to run a con on the Triads on the fly. You put Tara's life in danger to take down a bigger target." Eliot said, showing his disapproval. "I don't know if you remember, Nathan, but the last time you pulled this stunt was when we took down the Retzings. You had the police on our asses, and you went with the bigger con anyway after making a deal. Remember the Genogrow job? You insisted that we got on the plane, and I will say if it wasn't for Hardison, we'd all be dead in a plane crash along with everyone that was on that flight. Also, might I add you were drunk both times!" Kaira pointed out, getting her anger out. Nate huffed as the team showed that Kaira had a point. "I'm not drunk this time. Listen, it's one thing for Florence and those other women to owe money to some local sweatshop. You want them in debt to the Triads the rest of their lives?" Nate said. "You wouldn't have left Sophie there." Parker pointed out. "You both have a point, okay? Now, let's get a plan. Hardison which shows are left for the day that fit the hour timetable?" Kaira asked Hardison, wanting to move on for Tara's sake. Hardison searched his computer. "Okay, there's one show left today - Andre V. He has a hip-hop couture line." Hardison informed the team. "Great. Perfect. Go get those plans." Nate ordered Parker, Eliot, and Kaira. They turned around and left.</p><p>The trio walked into Fashion Week and looked around to make a plan. "Three minutes till the show." Eliot pointed out. "I know." Parker acknowledged. "Three minutes." Eliot reiterated. "We got it." Kaira said, calming her husband down. "Kerry, I've got it. Okay, I need you to re-freaking-lax!" Parker started yelling in her mic set as the approached the check in girl. "I.D's please." She asked. Eliot and Kaira quickly thought of an argument to start. "How am I supposed to find soy candles at such short notice?" Eliot asked Parker. "Farmer's Market!" Parker said. "Wait I thought we were going with the lavender candles?" Kaira questioned, egging on the argument. "I need to double-check your I.D's." The check-in girl reiterated. "You know what? Kerry sent us, okay?" Parker said, trying to get past. The girl stopped Parker. "There was a security breach earlier. No exceptions. The only thing that gets in are models and clothes." The girl said. Kaira came up with an excuse to leave. "Damn. Our I.D's are at your desk." Kaira said, turning to walk away so the others would follow. "The only thing getting in are models and clothes." Eliot reiterated. "Yeah." Parker said. Eliot then stopped the ladies. "Hey." Eliot said, before giving a look, signaling his idea. Parker and Kaira both got it as he left and followed, as Eliot chuckled. The trio went to the rack of clothes. Parker was moving the clothes. Eliot kept declining each one that Parker showed him. "How about this one?" Parker asked. "That's a shirt Parker." Eliot said. "I know, but at least you can move in it. These clothes are totally impractical, okay? There's no range of motion, limited concealment options, and this reflective material would set off a motion detector a mile away." Parker said. Kaira groaned at Parker. "It's a fashion show! It's not Thieves-R-Us." Eliot retorted. Kaira saw a dress she thought would work. "How about this one, babe?" Kaira showed the dress to Eliot. "The A-line drape of the empire waist is nice, but the neckline's a little weak. If you ask me. What?" Eliot said to Parker, noticing the look as Karia was amused. "I dated a lot of models. A lot of private fashion shows, if you know what I mean." Eliot said. Kaira was smiling as she put the dress back and Parker kept looking. "Yes, yes." Parker acknowledged, knowing the subtext. "But most of the dresses ended up on the ground." Eliot said. "Yep, I get it. You're a guy." Parker said, not wanting to hear it. "Means they were naked." Eliot said quietly and Parker sharply turned to him. "Okay, seriously?" Parker said. She walked away. Kaira turned to Eliot. "You mean that job we did in Paris where I was a model." Kaira teased Eliot. He chuckled. "Yes. That was a fun job." Eliot chuckled, remembering the job. Kaira leaned in to Eliot's ear. "And the dress ended up on the floor." Kaira said, smiling as they walked away. Parker and Kaira did find dresses to wear. Parker plugged in the USB and was waiting, but then Andre V noticed Parker was not complete, so he guided her over to a chair to get her complete for the show. The same thing happened with Kaira. She walked over to the laptop and saw the download was done and pretended to trip, grabbing the USB in the process as Parker was guided out. Kaira snuck the USB in her bra and walked out. "I got the drive. Let's wrap this up." Kaira reported. Parker went first, reluctantly. She tried to go back in, but couldn't. Kaira followed her out and watched Parker do okay in modeling. Kaira went out on the runway and did something similar to Parker. Kaira watched the flashing lights and was proud of herself for staying calm. She walked back and met back with Eliot and Parker.</p><p>The trio left Fashion Week and went to the warehouse. Eliot opened the door and Kaira pulled out the USB from her bra. The team glared at her. "These dresses don't have pockets." Kaira retorted as she handed the drive to Nate. "All the designs are on there, courtesy of Andre V." Kaira said. Nate passed the USB to Hardison, who plugged it in his computer. He loaded up the designs. "Yes, they are. Thank you, Andre V." Hardison said. He finished his thing, then handed the drive to Nate. "Files are compressed. They are easy to e-mail." Hardison explained. "Okay." Nate said, exiting the van. "Oh, uh, Nate?" Hardison said, handing what looked like a wallet to Nate. Eliot shut the door. "Hey. If this thing starts coming off the rails, don't wait. Call us in." Eliot said. "We mean it Nate. I can still run, even in heels. We'll be there in less than a minute." Kaira said. "Yeah. Chow is primed. I can handle him." Nate said. putting the wallet in his pocket. "I'm not talking about him." Eliot said. "She's a pro. She knows what to do." Nate said. He walked away into the warehouse. Eliot, Kaira, and Parker looked at each other and went by the stairs. They listened to the conversation that happened. Nate handed Nicholas the flash drive. "Hmm. Andre V." Nicholas said. "Right." Nate said, still in character. "The real deal." Nicholas said. "Oh, yes, the real deal, yeah." Nate said. "Our factories will be working off of these by tomorrow." Nicholas said. "Yes, you will become very, very, wealthy. Yeah, uh, so we are done, yeah? We're done, yes?" Nate questioned. "No. The police are looking for someone who broke into Andre V's computer. They're on their way here now." Nicholas said. Kaira tried to not panic. "But - But how would they know this?" Nate said, salvaging his cover. "Because I called them... and I told them a con man named Nathan Ford just tried to sell me a bunch of stolen designs." Nicholas said. Kaira hoped Nate knew what he was doing. He went silent for a moment. "Well..." Nate broke character and went into his normal voice. "Well... I knew I couldn't trust you." Nate told Tara. "You've done nothing to earn my trust." Tara said, also out of character. "I made you a member of my team." Nate said. "Your team? Oh, please. You get off putting everybody's lives in danger so the great Nate Ford can come in and save the day. That's your rush." Tara said. Just then, sirens were heard, so Eliot, Karia, and Parker hid for the time being. Nicholas spoke Chinese again and Kaira heard running. It was silent for another moment. "Well, they'll never believe your story." Nate said. "No? You're in my factory. You're pretending to be someone you're not. Besides, your prints are all over the drive." Nicholas said. "Detectives, this is the man I called you about. They're in his jacket pocket." Nicholas said. The police told Nate to put his hands up. It was silent for another moment as Kaira waited to see if the plan had worked. "Sir, are you Russell Pan?" A detective asked Nicholas. "Yes. Yes, I am." Nicholas said. "AKA Nicholas Chow? From Interpol's most wanted list?" The Detective asked Nicholas. Kaira was impressed. Kaira figured before they arrived, Hardison copied all the info on Nicholas and gave it to Nate, who switched the drives out after showing Nicholas the designs. "So you blew up your house to kill your wife?" The Detective questioned Nicholas. Then a detective went to get Nate, but Nate told him he was undercover working Fashion Week. The team was outside of the door as Nate exited.</p><p>He tossed the Interpol badge to Kaira as he walked down the steps. "We might want to destroy this." Nate suggested. "Russell didn't actually transmit the designs to the Triad Factories, right?" Tara asked Nate as they started walking away. "Designs, yes, but probably not the ones they wanted." Nate said. The team was impressed. Nate transmitted Gloria's designs. "It was a simple switch. You just put an auto-run instruction file on the drive to show a set of designs for the startup and a different set for the e-mail." Hardison explained. "Yeah, well, too bad Gloria had to retire before her collection was released, huh?" Eliot said. "I sure as hell don't feel bad. Her designs were awful! And I've had to wear some interesting clothes over the 5 years of doing this business, but I would have drawn the line there." Kaira retorted, causing a chuckle from the team. Eliot leaned in. "Like Moscow." Eliot said, teasing Kaira a bit. She smacked his arm. "I do not want to remember Moscow." Kaira said. "I have a feeling she might find a way to stay involved in the clothing business." Nate said as the team kept walking. "Okay, no earpiece. How did you tell Nate you were gonna run the cop scam?" Parker questioned. Tara looked kind of cocky. "5-0? The cops? That's all it took?" Eliot questioned Tara, looking at her. "Some people just know how to communicate." Nate said. "Yeah, I just finally learned to speak his language. Cryptic clues, slogans, and code." Tara said as the team left.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot went back to the office as Hardison cleaned their covers up. She got word that the factory was under new management, and was doing a much better job of caring for the workers. Florence got her money, and Tara got her cut. Other than Nate going a bit crazy again, Kaira took this as a win. She just hoped that Nate would get his act together soon.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I apologize for not uploading last week. I had a bad week and was busy. I'm better now and am ready to upload again! Much love to all of you! Stay Safe!<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. The Bottle Job (2x11)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Leverage Team find a job close to home during a wake for the owner of the bar under Nate and Kaira's apartment. During the wake, the team discovers that an Irish loan shark, Mark Doyle, has decided to collect on an IOU from the bars new owner, Cora McRory, the daughter of John McRory, who was the owner. Nate gets the team to run a classic con to get the money for the IOU. Things change, however when Nate decides to go for the bigger target and decides to take on Doyle himself. With Kaira becoming increasingly worried about Nate, will she snap?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm back again with another chapter! This one should be a good one. Without further adieu, here is chapter 11 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a normal wintery snowy night at the bar. Guests filled the bar, mostly drinking in honor of the owner of the bar, John McRory. Kaira was standing next to Nate and Parker, watching the guests, against a wall. "So, this is paying respects, hmm?" Parker questioned. "Oh, absolutely, yeah. I mean, it's an Irish wake." Nate said. They walked over to a doorway, where Eliot and Hardison came down. "You know there's a poker game going on in the backroom?" Hardison asked Nate, the group walking with him. Eliot put his arm around Kaira's shoulders and kissed her forehead. She smiled. "Yeah, hey, at one time or another, every man in this neighborhood played in John McRory's Friday-night game. It's an honor. I mean, hell, my - my father played in it for 10 years before -" Nate said before Eliot cut him off. "This was your father's local?" Eliot asked, joining him in the center of the room. "Oh, hey, this - this was my father's office, right here. And he held court right there on that stool. And he would just..." Nate indicated the stool and walking up to the bar. "I mean, I grew up in this place." Nate said. "That must've been an interesting education." Hardison said. "No different than when I lived with my uncle after my parents died. He taught me what I know now." Kaira said, smiling slightly. Nate smiled at her. "Yeah, better than prep school." Nate said. "What kind of crook was your dad?" Parker asked. "Parker, you just -" Hardison told Parker off. "He ran numbers." Nate said. "Let me get this straight - so you stop stealing, you stop drinking, and you moved upstairs from a thief bar?" Eliot questioned. "He did. I-I get that. You don't get that? Why does nobody else get that?" Parker asked, looking at the team. "No, the thing about it is, I mean, now, it's just a neighborhood bar. I mean, back in the day, you know, you never knew who you were drinking next to. You had the mob on one side, the law on the other." Nate explained. "Times have changed." Hardison said. "Yeah. My uncle taught me that any business at a bar was done out of respect. You needed to get dirty, you took it outside." Kaira said. "Yeah... Cora here - I remember the day she was born." Nate said, pointing to a redhead woman, going to a cash register. Kaira immediately picked up on her anger. Something wasn't right with her. "She grew up here, too, and she turned out all right. Huh, Cora?" Nate called to her at the end. She just looked and walked away. "Ooh." Kaira breathed. The team noticed she handed the cash to three dudes. They watched the shorter goon write something down. Then, Cora walked away in a huff, not happy. She walked behind the team. Kaira gave the silent signal and they tracked down Cora.</p><p>They walked up to Nate's office and consoled her as she explained what happened. "His name is Mark Doyle. He's Irish." Cora said, sniffling. "You know, he says dad took out a loan from him a year ago. I didn't believe him at first. Thank you." Cora said, after Eliot gave her a cup of coffee. "But I realize... that it was just before the cancer took mom." Cora explained, getting emotional. Kaira was too, thinking of Kasey. "You know, I tried to help him with the bills. He swore he had it under control." Cora sniffled again. "I could have stopped this!" Cora yelled. Kaira started whispering no, giving Cora a hug. "Guys like Doyle, he's a loan shark. There was nothing you could have done." Kaira said, still hugging Cora. Cora let go and Kaira held her shoulder in comfort. "But maybe we can, huh?" Nate said, agreeing to help. "No, he wants 15,000 in the next two hours, Nate, or he's taking the bar. I mean, I can't get that kind of money in two hours?" Cora explained, wondering how Nate could help. "Why don't you do this, okay? Why don't you go back downstairs and tend to the guests and everything? And we'll try to figure out something here. Okay?" Nate laid down the plan. Kaira went back up to Cora. "Okay. Thank you." Cora said.</p><p>Kaira walked Cora out. "Hey, Cora, I'm sorry about your mom. I lost my sister to cancer, so I know how it feels. I also know what it's like to lose both of your parents. I live beside Nate with my husband, so if you ever need anyone to talk to, come find me." Kaira said, comforting Cora as she left. Kaira rejoined the group, who had watched the interaction. "Okay. Now what?" Kaira asked the team but aimed at Nate. "Why don't we just send her to the police? I mean, I don't use them, but this is what they're for, right?" Parker asked. "No, if Cora says to the police that she owes Doyle money, Doyle denies it. Six months later, he comes and burns down the bar. And that's assuming that he doesn't have a couple of local police on the arm." Nate explained. "That's what sucks about the credit crunch. Honest people can't get loans, sharks move in. 12 points on the interest every month - there's no way to get out from under that." Hardison said. "I don't care. You don't collect debts at a wake. You just don't do it. Want me and Kaira to go downstairs, break this guy's knees?" Eliot offered. Kaira agreed to Eliot's idea. "I can call an old contact to put the squeeze on Doyle. Convince him to get out of Boston. Or I could go down and threaten him?" Kaira suggested. Eliot showed he liked the idea. "No, we need some reconnaissance, like you know, why is this Irish loan shark here? And what is this two hour timetable?" Nate said. "I'll call Tara, tell her we got a job." Kaira said, walking away to pull out her cellphone. Eliot groaned. Kaira gave him a look and dialed Tara. She said she'd come. They waited a few moments for Tara to arrive.</p><p>Nate and Kaira met her at the door. "What's the game?" Tara asked, taking off her coat. "20 questions." Nate said. "I'll do it in 10." Tara said. "That one. In the leather jacket. Mark Doyle. Irish mob guy." Kaira informed Tara. She handed Nate her coat and purse and then moved her skintight black skirt up, revealing more of her legs, and pulled down on her shirt. She took her hair out of her ponytail. She grabbed a glass of whiskey from a server walking by and drank it. Nate handed Tara her purse back. "I'm Trish, and I'm lonely." Tara said to Nate. She walked over to Doyle. Kaira caught Nate looking at her ass. Kaira chuckled as Nate left. Kaira caught Tara sitting down. Kaira sat at the end of the bar, trying to keep an eye, but also subtle. Tara ordered a shot of Jamie on the rocks. Mark went to go sit next to Tara, leaning on the bar, sitting his black bag on the barstool next to it. "That's only a bit of Irish. How'd you like a whole lot of Irish?" Mark asked Tara, flirting. Tara chuckles and Mark laughed. "And what do you do?" Tara asked. "Typical. Only Americans ask for your occupation before your name." Mark said when Kaira saw Parker lifting a passport out of the bag and passed it to Eliot. "I'm a bank, sweetheart." Mark said. Kaira stood up and walked up to Eliot, leaving some cash on the table. "You're a bit short for a bank." Tara said. "Very clever. It's a family business, mine - based back in Belfast. I'm the V.P in charge of overseas expansion." Mark said, trying to impress Tara. Tara laughed. "Slow down. I love it. I love it." Tara said, impressed.</p><p>Eliot got out his phone and scanned the passport. "Nothing but cash and an I.D." Eliot said. He clicked the phone shut and put it away. "I'm running it, but we got next to nothing on this guy. No bank accounts, no credit cards. H-he's totally off the grid." Hardison reported as Kaira heard laughing from Tara's comm. "Well, he's mob. Of course, he's gonna be off the grid. Who do you think taught me how to go dark?" Kaira said, not surprised. She saw Mark grab Tara's hand. "Mark Doyle, loan shark." Mark said, kissing her hand. Tara chuckled in shock. "If I were ashamed, I couldn't do my job, could I? I provide a service for people with no recourse, help those with nowhere else to turn. Society needs me." Mark said. "Right. But isn't it, um... illegal?" Tara whispered, going along with how open Mark was. "As me da says, we pick up where the law leaves off." Mark said. Kaira chuckled a bit, seeing the irony. "Care to explain, Nate?" Kaira whispered in her comm. Nate went silent. "Got something on dear old da - Tim Doyle. He not only runs the family loan-sharking business but used to kill people with nail bombs for the IRA." Hardison reported. Kaira heard Mark talking with Tara, sweet-talking each other. Kaira took the passport from Eliot and put it back. She walked back over to Eliot and waited to see what was going to happen, "I got plane tickets. Doyle's headed for Belfast in a couple of hours." Hardison reported. "That explains the deadline." Kaira said. "But why take the bag of cash? Tara, I need you to ask something." Nate said. Nate told her what to say. "How long are you in town?" Tara asked. "Leaving tonight. Annual review, sort of. Show my new branch of the business is profitable." Mark said. "How profitable?" Tara asked. Mark chuckled as Tara started chuckling, impressed. They both cleared their throats. "That's not all of it mind. Just enough to repay me da for his investment and prove that this branch is very, very profitable indeed." Mark said. "Well then..." Tara took a sip of her drink. "You can buy a girl a drink. I'll be right back." Tara said. She got up and left.</p><p>They rendezvoused back at the office. "We can't just steal the note. It's only gonna tick this guy off." Eliot said. "Can we con him in two hours?" Parker asked. "More like an hour and a half." Tara said, joining in a circle with the team. "We can't pull something together this fast." Tara pointed out as Nate was counting the cash he had. "50 bucks. All right, I got 50 bucks. Hardison, I need you to tell me what live sports are being broadcast right now. Tara, set the hook. You guys, I need cash." Nate said, laying out the plan. "No. It's impossible." Tara said, realizing the con. "You want to run the wire in an hour and a half?" Kaira questioned. "Wire's three weeks, minimum." Eliot pointed out. "Look at it as the wire in a bottle, okay? And just because no one's ever done it before doesn't mean it's impossible." Nate defended his plan. "Yeah, it does. What are we supposed to do, steal the wake?" Tara questioned. "Whoa, have some respect - borrow the wake to save the bar." Nate said. The team reluctantly agreed to the plan. They all got ready. Nate walked into the bar while Tara distracted Doyle and the quartet in the office was at the bookcase, grabbing what hidden cash they had. "Okay, guys, nothing fancy. Classic wire. You delay the sports feed. Now I know what's gonna happen, he doesn't, I get him to bet. Now, where's my cash?" Nate said.</p><p>"Look, man, it's 9 pm on a Friday night. All the banks are closed." Hardison said as Eliot and Parker pushed over chairs to grab books off the shelf. "ATM's." Parker suggested. "Daily withdrawal limit. Look, if y'all want me to do an electronic wire transfer of 100 grand between the Caymans and Madagascar, I can do that. But if you're talking cold, hard cash, you're out of luck. I'm sorry. Welcome to the future." Hardison said. "Just use your little slimmer thing, man, and gank the ATMs." Eliot suggested. "It's called a skimmer. But thank you for trying. And, no, I don't have that thing anymore. Look, we're the good guys now. I haven't used that thing in months." Hardison said. "Months?" Parker questioned. "Yeah." Hardison said. Kaira looked at Hardison. "We've been the good guys for two years, Hardison." Kaira pointed out. "Well, we had a break." Hardison said. "Can we please focus?" Nate said, getting them back on track. "Emergency fund." Hardison suggested. They split apart. Eliot went to the recliner with Kaira and grabbed her knife, smiling at her in the process, and flipped over the recliner and cut the bottom. Parker went to the cereal and poured it out, grabbing the cash in it. Hardison took down the Old Nate painting and laid it on a desk and started cutting it. Parker heard the cutting. "Whoa! What are you doing?" Parker asked, causing Hardison to stop. "What, you thought I kept Old Nate around for sentimental reasons?" Hardison asked as Parker walked over. "Yes!" Parker exclaimed as Eliot and Kaira walked over. Hardison peeled back the paper and they handed the cash to Eliot. Kaira pecked his cheek and he left.</p><p>Soon, Eliot met with Nate at the bar. "Just a little over 9 grand. That enough?" Eliot asked. "Yeah, I don't need enough to win, just enough to lose. It's perfect." Nate said. "I'll take care of the muscle." Eliot said. "All right. Hardison, let me know when you got control of the feeds." Nate said. Kaira saw Hardison sawing through the wall to get to the cable. "Babe, I'm coming down." Kaira said, getting up and leaving. "Here, this is the cable to the television to the bar downstairs." Hardison said. Kaira then heard the cables being dragged out. "Nate, we're ready down here. I'm about to splice... well, everything." Hardison said as Kaira walked in and saw Eliot. Kaira caught Nate walking up to Tara, who was talking to Mark. Nate came up behind her and tried to give her a hug, but Tara objected. "Ugh, perfect." Tara said, showing she didn't like that. "Oh, come on. Trish. Don't be like that, huh?" Nate told Tara. Nate still held her. "It was nice meeting you, Mark." Tara said, leaving. "Hey." Nate said, watching Tara leave.</p><p>Mark followed a bit, but then turned to Nate. "Thanks a lot, you Goby. I was making headway there." Mark said, not pleased. "Sorry. I'll make it up to you. Get this guy a drink - whatever he wants." Nate said, going to the bar with Mark. "Give me an empty glass and a bottle of the most expensive scotch you've got." Mark said. Kaira tuned out of the bar conversation and waited at the bar, glancing at Eliot, flirtatiously to sell her character. "Okay, we are up and running. Now, I've got the tv in the bar on a 20 second delay. Oh! Sisko just hit a jumper from the baseline." Hardison said, watching the basketball game, which was the only thing on at the moment. "All right, we need info from the bodyguards, but I'm burned." Tara said. "On it." Parker said. Kaira heard the door shut, telling her Parker was on her way. "You make book on this game?" Mark asked Nate, who went by Jimmy Ford. "No." Nate said, watching the game. "How about a little action?" Mark suggested. "Without the juice, of course." Mark said. Nate agreed and they both pulled out cash. "100 that Sisko misses." Nate said. "I'll take that." Mark said.</p><p>Kaira tuned out of the betting match and focused her attention with Eliot at the dart board. She walked up to him and they started flirting, watching the goons. The goons threw a couple of darts and Eliot started laughing, walking up next to the goons. "What's your problem?" The shorter one asked. "You remind me of my sister." Eliot said. The goon got up in Eliot's face. Eliot threw the dart, hitting a bullseye without looking. Both of the goons were impressed. "Yeah. It's all in the wrist." Eliot said as Cora walked over to them to get their drinks. "Hey, how are you? Good to see you. Can I buy a couple of beers for my boys and one for me, if you don't mind? And whatever my girl wants, too." Eliot said. Karia smiled. "I'll have a glass of Jack on the rocks, please." Kaira said. The boys looked at Kaira as Cora walked away. Kaira just stared at them. "What?" Kaira questioned the boys. "Only certain people can handle Jack straight." The shorter goon said. "Well, I am known to be different." Kaira smiled as she focused her attention on Eliot. "Do that again." The shorter goon said. "All right." Eliot said, throwing the dart at the bullseye. They all started laughing."I'll show you how to do that." Eliot said, grabbing the darts from the board. Eliot went to hand the goons the darts when Parker walked over with the beer and the drink for Kaira. "Oh! There it is. Look at that - some ale." Eliot said, setting the beers on the table and handing to drink to Kaira, who gladly took the drink. She didn't react and turned to look at Nate at the bar. One of the boys smacked her ass, so she pretended to like it and smack the other boy's asses, grabbing the goon's wallets and cell phones and passed them to Parker before she left.</p><p>Soon, Parker was upstairs and Eliot and Kaira distracted the goons as Nate kept betting with Mark. "Kaira got their cell phones and their wallets. Also lifted this - Doyle's ledger." Parker said. Kaira listened for what they said. "It's written in code." Tara reported. Nate betted again and lost. Kaira walked up to see what Nate was doing, acting like she went to the bathroom. There was a glass of scotch still on the table, undrunk. "What, you too good to drink with me?" Mark asked Nate. "No, no -" Nate tried to play it off. "I'm not betting again if you have the advantage of me, Jimmy boy." Mark said. Kaira looked at Nate, regretting what he'd had to do. "Ah, yeah, well, you're right. I mean, I might as well. You know, I mean, I'm getting my ass handed to me. You know, drowning my own sorrows here, right?" Nate said.</p><p>He took a drink of the scotch. And in that one instant, months of work being clean and months of trying to make sure Nate didn't go crazy was gone. Kaira walked back to Eliot and saw Nate looking at them, regretfully. He took another sip and continued betting with Mark. "So, this is -" Tara said. "Not good." Hardison said. Kaira turned her attention back on Eliot, distracting herself from the regret she had that Nate was forced to drink again.</p><p>"You know, I'm grabbing all I can off of Liam one and two's cell phones. We may be able to use any common GPS coordinates to triangulate the location of Doyle's office." Hardison said. "And I'm close to decoding this ledger." Tara said. "Names?" Kaira asked. "And alphanumeric substitutions." Tara said. "You know how to read that?" Parker asked. "Yeah, I trained in Cryptog- nevermind." Tara said. Kaira was intrigued. Hardison then whistled. "Archer just got robbed. Layup at the other end." Hardison reported so Nate could bet again. "Okay, 1,000 says Archer gets schooled." Nate said, laying down the money. "No way." Mark said, laying down his bet. The game on the tv showed what Hardison said. "Archer gets payback. Double or nothing." Mark said, laying down the bet. "No, turnover. You're good. You're good." Hardison said, giving Nate the go ahead. Nate won and Mark wasn't happy, but they kept betting. "So, I got Mike Duffy, 78 Oak Street." Tara said. "Borrowed money to put his mom in a nursing home." Hardison reported. "Okay, Alison McCoy." Tara said. "I got her. Special needs child. School bills. You know, Nate, we just cracked this ledger, and Doyle is way, way deeper into this neighborhood than we thought. Okay, uh, Nate, Boston wins with a three pointer. Nate? Nate?!" Hardison said trying to tell Nate to bet. "That pile of cash in front of you looks mighty inviting. I got a plane to catch. One last bet?" Mark suggested.</p><p>"Well, I mean, there's almost 10,000 dollars here. I mean, you have the cash to match it?" Nate asked Mark. Mark looked at his bag with cash in it. "Nah, my cash has... other obligations." Mark said. He slid a napkin across the floor. "Oh, no, no. I'm not gonna take a marker." Nate said. "You don't have to take my marker. Take hers." Mark said, indicating Cora. "No. How do I know she's good for it?" Nate asked. "You don't. That's why it's called gambling." Mark said. Kaira saw Parker approach the brothers at the door and smacked the taller one's ass to put the stuff back. Parker approached Eliot and Kaira, who were looking at Nate and Mark. "What's Nate thinking?" Parker asked. "He's not." Eliot said. "Nate, Y-you got 10 seconds. Place the damn bet!" Hardison exclaimed, worried about what Nate was doing. "Don't be cocky, Nate." Tara warned. "All right. Let it ride. Boston wins, hmm?" Nate said, finally placing the bet. "Done." Mark said. "Whoa! Yeah, baby! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about right there! Yeah!" Hardison exclaimed, way to excited. Kaira breathed in relief. They had done it. "I didn't realize you were quite that into basketball." Tara said, confused. "Ba-basketball? Woman, we just pulled off the wire in the time it takes to get a pizza delivered. This is a big win - big! They're gonna talk about this one." Hardison said. Mark went to leave and Nate stood up, putting his coat on. Eliot handed Kaira her coat as he put his on. They walked up to Nate. "We got lucky on that one." Eliot said to Nate. "We're not letting him go." Nate said. "But we saved the bar." Parker said. "We're not letting him go. The night's just getting started." Nate said, clear he had a plan. "Dammit, Nathan. What the hell are you thinking? I knew this was gonna happen as soon as you took that drink." Kaira asked Nate, not happy with what Nate wanted to do.</p><p>They met in the back room. "He goes back to Ireland, and flashes that money to his father, he'll be back here within a week and with more muscle, heat, and protection. And then he'll be in every corner of this neighborhood. We won't be able to pry him loose." Nate pointed out his reasoning. "How can you be sure?" Eliot asked. "Because that's what my father did. No, I know this guy. I know what he's about. Right now, right here - this is the time to put a spike in him for good. It's our only shot." Nate said. "Final sh - Nate... do you have another con up your sleeve?" Hardison asked. "Uh, no. Y-Yeah. Well, this one's maybe a little bit more... impossible. Guys, let's go to the storage room. Tara, stall him. Stall him." Nate ordered.</p><p>They walked away as Tara walked in to the bar. "Hey, beautiful." Mark said to Tara. "Don't beautiful me." Tara said. "Sorry. Men's business. Money's money, love. Look, I'm heading out. Give you a ring when I'm back?" Mark said. Tara scoffed. "You're not going anywhere. It's turning into a blizzard out there." Tara said. "Doesn't look to bad." Mark said. "I couldn't get to the corner shop for smokes. But, hey, you want to sit in the tunnel for three hours, be my guest." Tara said. "Can't have that. Liam's brother here is claustrophobic. Fair enough. Let's check the weather on the telly." Mark said. Kaira perked up. "Hardison, get ready to fake a weather report. Now!" Kaira warned Hardison. "Yeah. Let's check the weather on the telly." Tara said. "C-c-check the weather on wh-woman, you did not." Hardison said. "I warned you." Kaira said. Hardison then started grumbling, getting ready as Tara stalled.</p><p>Nate, Eliot, Kaira, and Parker were in the storage room. "Okay, so we're gonna lure him into a high-stakes poker game." Nate said the plan. "Except we have no high stakes." Eliot pointed out. "And no poker game." Parker pointed out. "Well, I have enough to slowplay him for maybe half an hour or so. Hey, Hardison, have you found Doyle's address yet?" Nate said. "I'm a little busy." Hardison said. "Hey, Nate, this green blanket have any special memories?" Hardison asked. "Uh, no. Why?" Nate asked. "Uh, no reason. Okay, the computer's still grinding out the cellphone information. I will hit you as soon as I get an address." Hardison said. Tara was still stalling Mark. "Okay, you guys hit the road. Hardison's gonna text you the address. Now, Doyle - he deals in cash. The rest of it will be at his office, so bring it to me." Nate said. "His money?" Eliot questioned. "You wanna play with Doyle's money? Dammit, Nate, why do you have to do this?" Kaira asked, not happy. "If we pull this off, Doyle is gonna leave every dime he owns on that table. Now, I assure you, his father will never forgive him for that." Nate said. "What if I can't crack his safe?" Parker asked. "Seriously, Parker? You're the best damn thief I know." Kaira retorted. "Let me ask you one more question - would you even consider trying this if you were sober?" Eliot asked Nate. Kaira showed that Eliot had a point. "Uh... I'd consider it." Nate said. Eliot growled, showing he didn't like the answer. "I'm staying with Nate. Babe, Parker, you hit Doyle's office once Hardison sends you the address." Kaira said as Eliot and Parker left. She looked at Nate. "The only reason I'm here is so you have backup. And I wanna mess with Doyle too. But Nate, you have got to be careful." Kaira said, almost threatening Nate. They walked out and watched Hardison do the weather.</p><p>Mark left to talk to his goons. "All clear. Is that my jacket?" Nate asked. "You know what, man? You're lucky I'm not wearing your underwear. And the next time y'all call me, it better be for something easy, like faking a moon landing." Hardison said. "Okay, Tara... here's what I need you to tell him." Nate said. He gave Tara the cue. "Looks like we have some time to talk after all, Macushla." Mark said, getting close to Tara. "Should have played with me instead of Jimmy the first time." Tara said. "Fair enough." Mark said. "You wouldn't have got cheated that way. Can I get a rum and coke?" Tara said, quickly. "Wait, what?" Mark questioned Tara. "He cheated you. He does it to all the tourists who come in the bar. Rum and diet coke actually." Tara said. "Oi! Explain." Mark told Tara. Tara scoffed. "The crappy cable TV in this bar - the sports channels are all on a local 5-minute delay, so Jimmy spots a mark, calls a friend who's watching on satellite, and he gets the action texted to him on his phone. You didn't see him looking at his phone?" Tara explained. She chuckled. "He ran you right up." Tara said. "Why didn't you tell me this the first time?" Mark asked Tara. "Men's business. You hurt my feelings." Tara said. "Stay here. I'm gonna kick his arse... then I'll be back - hurt your feelings a bit more." Mark said.</p><p>While that was happening, Nate and Kaira went down into storage to talk to Cora. "Nate, did you find the money?" Cora asked Nate. "I need you. Uh, uh, Tara? Look, here - here's the trick. We're not gonna cheat him. He's gonna cheat us." Nate said. Cora asked who Tara was. She stopped Mark. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. You can't go back there. Wait. He's playing cards." Tara said. "So?" Mark questioned. "So, it's a protected game. All right, you've heard about McRory's, right? Everybody in the neighborhood comes here. Well, everybody back in that room is a heavy hitter." Tara explained. "How heavy?" Mark asked. "Local families - Irish, some Italians from the North Shore, um, sometimes a guy comes up from Providence. But you start something in there, it... look, come back to the bar. Buy Trishie a drink." Tara said. "Ford's back there playing? I'm not a bad card player myself." Mark said. "I don't know about this. My brother's not so sure either." Liam said. "See? Liam and... Liam's brother are right. He's already shown he can beat you." Tara said. "Cheat me, and nobody cheats a Doyle." Mark said. "Well, it's not like you can go in and cheat him back, okay? He's the best at this. This is how he makes a living. Listen, your father never has to know that you got burned. Your dad never has to find out." Tara said. "He was sweet on you, right?" Mark asked, referencing the introduction they had. "Yeah." Tara said. "He didn't see you with me just now, right?" Mark asked. "I don't think so." Tara said. "What would he do if you went in there and sat on his lap?" Mark asked. "What would you do?" Tara asked. "I think this'll work." Mark said.</p><p>Kaira was walking with Nate and Cora, going to the poker game. "This will never work." Cora said. "Of course it will. Gentlemen, I have a proposal for you." Nate said, walking into the room with three guys at the table. "Who the hell are you?" The shorter, stout older man asked. "Mickey, this is Jimmy Ford's son, Nate." Cora said. "You anything like you father?" Mickey asked. "No." Nate said. "And you?" Mickey asked Kaira. "This is Kaira Newton. She's a friend of Nates." Cora introduced her. "Nice to meet you gentlemen." Kaira gave a smile. "You anything like your uncle?" Mickey asked. "No." Kaira answered, truthfully. "So, what is your proposal?" Mickey asked. "Okay, you let us and my friend, Doyle, uh, in on your game, and I guarantee you he will leave his money on the table and confess to at least one felony, probably more." Nate said. "So, you're telling me this Doyle kid's gonna march right in here, confess to a crime, and give us all his money?" The taller, skinner older man questioned. "If all goes to plan." Nate said. "I don't know what kind of schmuck would do that, but I'd sure as hell pay to see it." Mickey said. The boys chuckled a bit. "I don't know about this, Cora." Cabella said. "We'll take the heat if it goes wrong." Kaira said. "All you guys got to do is just keep playing." Nate said. "Please... for dad." Cora pleaded. Mickey contemplated it and agreed. "Buy-in's 20 bucks." Mickey said. "Okay, all right." Nate said, then Cora. "Blues are ones. Whites are five." Mickey said. "Okay, now listen, he may want to buy in for slightly higher. Are you okay with making him think there's more in the pot?" Nate asked. "The less I know about this, the better." Cabella said.</p><p>They got the next hand ready as Tara walked in. "All right. He's in. I'm supposed to be softening you up." Tara said. "All right." Nate said. "Could I borrow him for one sec?" Tara asked the guys, putting her hand on Nate's shoulder. "What?" Nate questioned as Tara pushed Nate to the side. "These locals don't look anything like mob guys." Tara pointed out. "No, they're McRory's friends. They're all I got." Nate said, grabbing a glass. "You actually think Doyle's gonna buy their act?" Tara asked. Nate grabbed a bottle. "They'll be fine, okay? Everything's fine. Hardison, you find out where Doyle keeps the rest of his money?" Nate asked. Kaira tuned out the rest as she chatted with the guys at the table. "I didn't know you're family was in Boston, Kaira." Cabella said. Kaira gave another smile. "No, it's just me. I left the family and joined the army as soon as I graduated. Met a handsome southern boy who treats me good, and just got married. Never been back home since." Kaira answered. "I'm glad, Kaira. I knew your uncle. You know, he lived in Boston before moving up to New York with his sister." Mickey said. "Yeah. He told me about Boston. He liked to tell his stories. He'd always put some advice in every story he told me. He taught me what I know today. We're gonna get Doyle out of here." Kaira said, making a promise. Nate brought a chair over and Kaira stood on the corner, acting like security.</p><p>Just then Mark walked in with his money. "Evening, gentlemen." Mark said. "Uh, what do you think you're doing, Doyle? This is an invite-only game." Nate said, walking to Mark as Tara sat down. "Then invite me. And why is she in here?" Mark asked, gesturing to Kaira. "I'm security." Karia answered. "I'd invite you, but it's not my call. Listen." Nate said before turning to face the table, then back at Mark. "You know who these guys are? That's Mickey Donnelly, Johnny "the Fist" Cabella, Danny McCann. I mean, you know, I can't cross them." Nate whispered. Mark shrugged it off and walked to the table. He went to an empty chair and sat his bag of cash down. "Cash plays?" Mark asked. He grabbed a bundle and put it on the table. "Cash plays." Mickey said. "Nice." Mark said. Nate went to sit down. "A lot more where that came from, boys." Mark said, taking off his jacket and sat down.</p><p>They played, following the plan. Tara slowed played Mark, and stalled by playing until Eliot and Parker came back with the cash. After a while of playing, Nate left to get a drink. "All right, what's the E.T.A on the cash?" Nate asked. "We're at the safe. Parker wants to take it out for dinner and drinks first." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled a bit in amusement. "This is a Glen-Reader Prestige from the 20's. So many memories." Parker said. "All right, well, tell her to pick it up." Nate said. "Come on Parker." Eliot rushed her. "I would move a lot faster if you weren't stomping around." Parker said. Kaira smiled amused. "It's not me stomping. I don't stomp." Eliot said. "You do kinda stomp, babe." Kaira whispered, getting a growl from Eliot.</p><p>"Now, we are gonna do some real business in this town, my father and me. You gents are huge in this town. We should get to know each other." Mark said. "Sure." Cabella said, selling the part. "We're already making our mark. Like Mickey. You remember that deal that went down with the O'Hares last Autumn?" Mark said. "Mm, I remember it." Mickey said. Kaira smiled in amusement. That was their first job back from the break that happened. Oh, how things have changed since then. "You involved in that?" Mark asked. Mickey started laughing. "You could say that." Mickey said. Mark started chuckling. "That job would have been a mess without me. I was the one who told them to use cigar boxes instead of orange crates." Mark said. Kaira soon heard Eliot grunting and getting punched. Mark then looked at Nate, who was still at the bar, getting his drink. "Hey, Ford, are you buggering off already?" Mark asked Nate. He put the glass down. "No, I'm - I'm in." Nate said. "Babe, careful. Parker, move your ass." Karia whispered. Parker then started humming as Eliot burst through a door and Parker told him to be quiet.</p><p>Soon Parker got the cash and Nate started playing again. Soon, Parker arrived with the money and gave it to Nate and left. "Cash plays." Nate said, putting the money on the table. Doyle showed some uneasiness. "What's wrong there, Doyle? Cash plays, right?" Nate said. Mark flipped over a stack of the money. Mark stood up and cocked a gun on Nate. "What kind of eejit do you take me for?" Mark said. Kaira was about to disarm Mark, but Nate signaled to stand down. Kaira took the signal, but still was on guard. "Hey, Doyle, what are you getting upset about? We're just playing a little game here." Nate said, trying to calm Mark down. "I know exactly the game you're playing. You're all playing it together - with my money!" Mark exclaimed. Mark grabbed a stack of cash and held it up. "This is my mark. I've just spent the last year running the only bank that would lend to any plank and neddy in this hole. And I marked every damn dollar I collected... like so." Mark said. "So, you're a loan shark." Mickey said, unfazed by the gun. "Aye. I'm a loan shark. And these are my teeth." Mark aimed the gun on Mickey. "No one cheats a Doyle." Mark said. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'd put that thing down, unless you want to get yourself killed. You don't know who these guys are." Nate said, still trying to diffuse the situation. "I know exactly who they are. A bunch of local thicks you recruited for this little game of yours. Well, game's over boys." Mark said. He grabbed his bag and sat it on the table. "Start handing over your money." Mark said.</p><p>Just then, Mickey pulled out his badge. "I'd put that down if I were you." Mickey said. "What, this another prop for your wee game?" Mark questioned. "Yeah, and this is a prop I got from the Boston Police Department." Mickey said, drawing his gun. Cabella grabbed the gun from Mark. "You point that gun at me again, and I'll be calling my friend in the coroner's office." Mickey said. "You're a friggin' guard?" Mark questioned, not happy. "I think he prefers detective, don't you Mickey?" Tara asked. "Sergeant Detective, Organized Crime Division. And these are my friends, Lieutenant Cabella and Captain McCann." Mickey said as the other boys grabbed their badges. "Nice to meet you." McCann said. "What the hell is going on here?" Mark asked. Kaira flashed back to what Nate told them before the game started. "This is entrapment." Mark said. "Entrapment, huh? You think so? What do you think, Captain?" Mickey said. "As I recall it, I'm pretty sure he came in here, put his money on the table, and asked into our game." McCann said. "And if memory serves, he confessed to being a party to that O'Hare job down by the docks last year." Mickey said. Kaira remembered hearing Mark said that. She then pulled out her cellphone and held it. "First break we've had on that case in months." Cabella said. "Oh, you boys mind if I give you the video I took of you coming in here and asking into their game and of you confessing to being a part of the O'Hare job?" Kaira asked smugly as she pulled up the video on her phone.</p><p>The cops agreed and Kaira sent it to their phones, which she hacked during the game and got their phone numbers. She sent it to them. "Videos sent." Kaira said as she put her phone away. "All right. All right. Fair enough." Mark said. He took a swig of his drink. "How's about I walk away with what's mine, you walk away with what's yours? And for your understanding, I'll make a little contribution to your retirement fund." Mark said. Then Nate shot up and slammed Mark to the table, pinning his arm back. "All right, now listen to me. This is what you're gonna do. You're gonna leave this bar, you're gonna get out of town, you're gonna go home to daddy, and tell him that your business went bust. Or I will call him and tell him that you gambled away all his profits to a roomful of cops. You will never set foot in this town again, or they will throw your ass in jail. Understood?" Nate said. "Yeah. Uh-huh!" Mark said, scared. "Yeah, and one more thing." Nate said, breaking his finger, causing Mark to scream. "Nate, get him up." Kaira ordered, unfazed by the display.</p><p>She grabbed Mark and held him against the table, facing her. "You don't know me, but you may know my family." Kaira said, anticipating Mark's inevitable question. "Who are you?" Mark asked. "My name's Kaira Newton, though I go by Kaira Spencer now. You would know my uncle. I'm in a different line of work than he is, but I still have his resources. All I have to do is make one phone call, telling him that Mark Doyle showed up at my home and was gambling at the bar my friend owns and you will never be allowed to leave Ireland. I may go by a different name, but my uncle would do all of that for me. So get the hell out of my city. And don't go near my family again, or it'll be more than your fingers that get broken." Kaira threatened, staring at Mark, scarring him. She let him go and shoved him out the door. Kair composed herself and looked at everyone. "You're exactly like your father. But you, you're not like your Uncle." Mickey said. Tara went to gather the money on the table. "So, I guess this is, uh... all evidence, huh?" Tara said. "It'll never make it back to the people it belonged to, but I guess it's how it goes." Kaira said. The cops looked at each other. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been at the movies all night long." Mickey said. "Me and Johnny here had tickets to the game today." McCann said as they grabbed their jackets and left. "Great game." Cabella said. Kaira smiled and mouthed thank you as they left. "The ledger?" Nate said. Tara grabbed it. "Every name. I mean, I'm still gonna take my -" Tara said. "Yeah. Take your cut. I'd expect nothing else." Nate said as they left.</p><p>They gathered the names and gave the money to the people at the bar. Eliot and Nate sat down across from Tara and Kaira at a table. "I can't believe you actually pulled this off in two hours." Tara said, closing the ledger. "Hour and a half. I'm softening." Nate said, sitting down. "Definitely softening." Eliot said. Hardison walked over. "You guys get it squared away?" Nate asked. "Yep. Every last dollar." Hardison said, proud. "Every last one." Parker said, bittersweetly. Cora then came by with glasses and whiskey. "On the house." Cora said, sitting down the tray. "It's the least I can do. You guys saved me today. All of us. Thanks." Cora said as Parker, Hardison, Kaira, and Tara grabbed a glass. "Yeah, listen, I'm uh, I'm kind of beat. I'm gonna head upstairs." Nate said. "Uh, wait, I'm sorry. Wait, where?" Hardison questioned. "Upstairs, where - where I live." Nate said. "Okay. Cool. That's cool. Except how bout this? You stay down here a couple more hours, get an appetizer - Cora, what's good on the menu?" Hardison suggested. "Calamari's really-" Cora was saying before Hardison interrupted. "Calamari?" Hardison said, liking the idea. "Yeah, I-I don't really want calamari. I want to go to bed." Nate said. "Cool. You can - in a minute. Y'all want to help me?" Hardison said. "I ain't. This is your mess." Eliot said. Parker left. "What do you mean it's my me- No. You-" Hardison said. A short argument started. "What mess? What are you talking about?" Nate questioned. "I don't understand. What - what mess?" Nate asked. "It's nothing. It's not a me- It's nothing. Just -" Hardison said before Tara interuppted. "I don't clean. I'm going home." Tara said, getting up and leaving. "What do you mean you don't clean?" Hardison asked Tara. "There's no maid service, sweetheart." Tara said. "I bet if it was a bag of dirty money, you'd swing that." Hardison argued. "I bet that. I bet that much." Hardison said. Eliot said something to Hardison before looking at Kaira as Tara told Cora bye. "You coming to bed, sweetheart?" Eliot asked Kaira. "In a minute, babe. I think I'm gonna talk with Cora for a bit." Karia smiled at Eliot and he smiled back as everyone else left except for Cora and Nate.</p><p>Kaira scootched over and Cora sat down. "Thanks." Cora said to both Nate and Kaira. "No. It was nothing." Nate said. "This is what we do." Kaira said, accepting the thanks. "You remind me of your old man sometimes." Cora said to Nate, causing her to chuckle. "Well, that's just an aweful thing to say to someone who has saved your ass today. Come on." Nate said, kind of jokingly. "He has good qualities, Nate. You've just never been able to see them." Cora said. "He uses people and takes advantage of them. Come on, you know that." Nate said. Kaira looked at Nate. "Says the man who uses people to get what he wants." Kaira said, surprised. Nate just glared at her. "Well, he takes care of his friends - like you do. My dad would be really grateful for what you did here today." Cora said, thankful and sad. "Your dad was a good man." Nate said. "He was." Cora said. Kaira smiled at a memory. "You know, my parents both died just before I turned 18. My dad was a serviceman, discharged for an injury and my mom was a don's daughter. My dad tried his best to raise both me and Kasey. Then cancer took Kasey, and he went off the deep end. He still tried, but it was my mom who did the most for me. After they died, my uncle taught me about the real world. He basically raised me until I was 19 and joined the army." Kaira said, reminiscing about the happy memories of her old life. Before Eliot, before Nate, before this job. "They all have their flaws." Cora said. The trio chuckled and sighed. Nate looked at the barstool he mentioned earlier. Nate and Kaira both grabbed glasses. "To fathers." Nate said, toasting. "To fathers and the ones we didn't know we needed." Kaira said, smiling at Nate. "To fathers." Cora said. They clunked glasses and downed their shots. Kaira put her glass down. "I think I'm gonna go ahead and go to bed with my husband. Good night." Kaira said. She stood up and looked at Nate. "Thank you Nate for introducing me to these guys, and to Sophie. And thank you for giving me the courage to tell Eliot how I felt about him. And for filling in as a father to walk me down the aisle. You made me a better person, a better thief, and a better wife." Kaira said, tearing slightly. Nate was too. He smiled at her. Kaira kissed his cheek goodbye and walked outside.</p><p>She walked up and was about to open the door to her and Eliot's apartment when Hardison came over. "Hey, Kaira." Hardison got her attention. "Yeah, Hardison." Kaira turned to face him. "What was your uncle like? I know it was after your parents died, and I know what that's like, and-" Hardison asked. "Um... he was an interesting individual. He was smart, cunning, nice, but I'll be damned if he wasn't the best person I know, besides you guys." Kaira said. "What was it like living with him?" Hardison asked. Kaira sighed, thinking back to that time in her life. "Definitely not normal. He did his best with what he had. I mean, he wanted me to run the family business, but I wanted out— needed out. I wanted to be better. My uncle offered to pay for my entire college education. But, I wanted to go in the army like my dad and serve my country. He supported me, but it was hard for both of us. I haven't been back home since I left." Kaira answered, trying to not let the emotions get to her. Hardison pulled her into a hug. "What would you have gone to college for? If you hadn't joined the army, I mean." Hardison asked. Kaira thought a moment. "Probably a nurse or doctor. Just something that would have helped people." Kaira answered, smiling at how ridiculous the thought was. Hardison did too. "Hot damn. What happened that changed your mind?" Hardison asked. "I wanted to honor my dad. I joined the service and thought I could become an army medic maybe. But then I saw a man in my tent that was handsome. He smiled at me and I was done. He told me about his other job and I wanted to follow him. I left and became a thief. He taught me what I know today. We flirted but never admitted our feelings for a long time. Not until I met a group of people who taught me that love was a strength. So, we admitted our feelings, started dating, got engaged after a year, and got married. And the team we befriended became my family." Kaira smiled. Hardison was taken back. Kaira pulled Hardison into a hug to calm him down. "I'm glad I met you, Kaira. You're the best sister I could ask for." Hardison said. Kaira smiled and said goodnight and walked into the apartment.</p><p>Eliot was laying in bed, half-asleep. "Babe?" He groaned, hearing the door. "Yeah. Sorry. Hardison stopped me and wanted to talk." Kaira smiled as she started changing. "Okay. I love you." Eliot said, still half asleep. "I love you, too babe." Kaira smiled. She put in her shirt and went to lay in bed. She cuddled up with Eliot. "Hey, Eliot. How do you think our lives would be different if we weren't together?" Kaira asked Eliot. "Well, I wouldn't be a married man, for one. And I would probably have gotten killed in the Army or arrested. I certainly wouldn't be here, I know that. Sleeping next to the woman I love and am married to. Nothing gets better than that." Eliot smiled. "We've come a long way since our days in the Army, huh?" Kaira smiled, causing a smile from Eliot. Kaira kissed his lips and went to bed, thankful she met who he did and was married to an amazing guy.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to share and comment if you liked this chapter. Until next time, much love you all of you! Stay Safe!<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. The Zanzibar Marketplace Job (2x12)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Team Leverage is back at it again! This time, the job is personal for Nate. He gets a surprise visit from nemesis Sterling saying that his ex-wife, Maggie, was arrested for a robbery that she wasn't apart of. Will the team be able to hold it together to save a friend?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello!<br/>I hope you are enjoying this series! Without further adieu, here is chapter 12 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate, Eliot, Tara, and Kaira met to discuss potential clients. Hardison, however, was talking about vacation with Parker at the bar. They ordered drinks and got started. Kaira came back with a beer for Eliot and herself. She handed him the bottle and sat down, facing Nate and sitting next to Eliot. "There you go, babe." Kaira said, smiling at Eliot as she sat down. "Thank you, sweetheart." Eliot smiled back. Just then Eliot grunted, and Kaira saw Nate kick Eliot underneath the table. Kaira tried not to laugh. "What, I can't smile at my wife?" Eliot questioned. "At your own time." Nate said as Kaira chuckled, sipping her beer with Eliot. "Okay, our next client - two kids, no job, pension gone. State grabbed their land under eminent domain." Nate informed the team of the case. "So, these are all your little lost sheep?" Tara said, looking at the file Nate had. "Excuse me?" Nate questioned, with Kaira showing she was asking the same thing. "Well, you know, you can't save them all." Tara said. Nate closed the file. Kaira looked at Tara. "We know that. But that doesn't mean you just ignore it. You try your best." Kaira explained to Tara. Kaira then looked at the look she was getting from Tara, having a realization. "You don't know why we do this, do you?" Kaira asked. "Well..." Tara was saying. "You don't know because you look at grifting and what we do, and you see a paycheck, fattening your pockets, which, there's nothing wrong with wanting money from doing a job, I've been there. But I don't do this job for money because I learned a long time ago that getting greedy isn't good. And, this job isn't about the money. It's making one more person in the world happy that they got justice, and one more person gets thrown in jail rightfully. We don't play God or play judge, jury, and executioner like I think you think we do. We put pieces in place so the powers that be can do that part for us. Let the law do what it's supposed to do. We just... bring it to light." Kaira explained. Nate looked uncomfortable and got up to leave."I'm getting some coffee." Nate said. He walked up to the bar. "Nate, don't put whiskey in your coffee, or I swear I will hit you again." Kaira warned Nate, getting brushed off. "You know he's drinking again." Tara pointed out. "I'm not an idiot, Tara." Eliot said. "I was told this was a problem." Tara said. Kaira knew Sophie warned Tara about the drinking. "The drinking is not the problem. It's a symptom." Eliot said. "It's a symptom of something bigger that is troubling Nate. Last time he was drinking, was when his son was killed and his marriage and life was ruined." Kaira answered. She remembered her own sister, laying in that hospital bed, trying to stay strong so her sister's last moments weren't of her big sister crying. God, Kaira hated that moment. The monitor flatlining. Kaira remembered thinking that her life wasn't gonna get much worse after they buried Kasey. But it did. Kaira remembered the police officers in the office telling her her parents were dead, and that it looked like a murder-suicide. Kaira then remembered her wedding and meeting Eliot for the first time, which calmed her down and brought her back in line. Also, Eliot was grabbing her hands and kissing her forehead. Kaira smiled as she silently thanked Eliot.</p><p>Nate sat down and looked at Kaira, worried. She smiled at Nate, signaling that she was gonna be okay. "Okay, so..." Nate said, taking a sip of coffee. "Ahh. What we -" Nate said, suddenly stopping at the sound of the door opening and closing. Kaira and Eliot were confused and worried about what Nate was looking at. "Eliot, Kaira, I'm gonna ask that you not to do anything violent." Nate said. "What? What are you talking about?" Eliot questioned. "What?" Kaira also questioned. "We only use violence as a - as a - as an appropriate response." Eliot said, confused Nate. "Hello, Nate." A familiar British voice was heard. Kaira groaned as she looked at Eliot, seeing the anger rise. She wasn't gonna stop him. Eliot then burst out of his chair and Kaira did too, seeing Eliot punch Sterling. Kaira just watched, seeing Hardison give the bartender money to ignore the fight happening. Eliot and Kaira were punching Sterling, then slammed him on the table nearby. Kaira saw he had a baton in his hand, and quickly grabbed it, nearly breaking Sterling's hand in the process. "And this is?" Tara asked Nate. "James Sterling. We used to work together. Insurance." Nate said and Sterling got up and hit Eliot with the baton, having gotten it back. Kaira pinned his arm back as Eliot punched Sterling in the face. "He seems to rub Eliot and Kaira the wrong way." Tara said, kinda amused at the display. "You think?" Nate questioned, half-serious. Kaira and Eliot got Sterling on the table again, with Eliot grabbing his throat, and Kaira grabbed his baton, walking over to Tara and breathing heavy, fixing her hair. "Well, people tend to rub you the wrong way when they defend the man who killed your baby sister, and caused your dad to shoot your mom, then kill himself." Kaira told Tara, probably revealing too much. Nate walked over to Sterling. "Damn. What he do to Eliot?" Tara asked Kaira. "He sent a guy to attack us and blew our covers, forcing us to blow up our last office." Kaira answered. Tara went silent, not sure what to make of it. Kaira went to join Nate. "What do you want, you British bastard?" Kaira asked Sterling, hissing a bit at him. "Actually, I came to offer you a job." Sterling said, straining against Eliot's hand against his throat. "There's nothing you can say to make us work with you." Eliot said, hissing similar to Kaira. "It's Maggie." Sterling said. Nate and Kaira thought about it. "Get him upstairs." Nate ordered, walking away. Eliot pulled Sterling up and let go, showing he wasn't happy. Kaira did too. "You're still angry about the office?" Sterling questioned the couple as they walked up. "Well, when you send someone to break you and your husband's ribs, why wouldn't I be?" Kaira hissed, walking out of the bar. "You two got married?" Sterling questioned, a cocky smile on his face. "Oh, shut up." Eliot hissed at Sterling. "And wipe that cocky ass smile off, you bastard." Kaira hissed, getting him up the steps. They entered the office, and Hardison got the presentation ready for Sterling.</p><p>Hardison had passports all over the table, each having separate identities. Hardison and Tara were looking at them, sitting on the couch with Parker as Eliot and Kaira sat on the loveseat, Kaira sitting on Eliot's lap. "This Fabergé Egg was commissioned by Czar Nicholas of Russia. Being only one of only 69 to survive, it's worth $9 million dollars. Maggie was working at the museum, verifying Russian artifacts donated for an exhibit. The night of the robbery, she was the only person at the museum. And there you have it." Sterling informed the team, holding an ice pack to his jaw. Tara looked at Eliot and Kaira. "Who is..." Tara was about to ask. "Maggie is Nate's ex-wife who he can't seem to get over." Kaira answered. "Okay. Is there any chance she took the egg?" Tara asked. "No. Maggies the most honest person we know. But besides that, she's okay." Parker said. "She would have to be put at gunpoint to steal anything. Obviously, a set up then. But, you figured that out already, didn't you Sterling?" Kaira said. Sterling looked at her, annoyed at her banter. Just then Nate walked in. "You live and work here?" Sterling asked Nate. "Yeah." Nate answered, going behind the couch. "I like the old place better." Sterling said. Kaira groaned, trying not to get up and punch Sterling again. "Don't you even go there with us. I will get my ass up and put my foot up your ass if you mention that again." Kaira threatened Sterling. "Okay, Maggie is where, precisely, right now?" Nate asked, ignoring Kaira's outburst. "Currently awaiting trial in the Kiev jail. Of course, when I heard that dear Maggie was being held without bail, I rushed -" Sterling said before Kaira started chuckling. "Oh, we both know that's a lie, Sterling. You moved your ass as soon as you discovered the egg went missing, and..." Kaira said before Sterling cut in. "...rushed to the Ukraine. Of course, I was unable to clear her name." Sterling said. "Well, I assume you have another suspect?" Nate asked Sterling. "Absolutely. Alexander Lundy - International real-estate mogul. Very rich, very powerful. My only problem is that he works at the American Embassy, which makes him untouchable by normal law enforcement." Sterling said. "Guys, we got to book it. Our flight to Kiev leaves in three hours." Hardison said. "Okay. Let's go." Nate ordered at the team started gathering up the passports. "Hang on. I - you - I'm not working next to this guy." Eliot said, pointing at Sterling. "No, you don't - you don't have to. I'll work with him. You and Kaira have a different job." Nate said. "What?" Eliot and Kaira questioned. "Well, you're the retrieval specialists. Retrieve my wife from jail. Let's go!" Nate ordered again. Kaira groaned again. "Ex-wife Nathan!" Kaira groaned at the team left to go to the airport.</p><p>They flew to Kiev and got settled in the hotel. Then, Eliot, Kaira, Hardison, and Tara made a plan to get Maggie out of the police station. "Okay, Eliot, Kaira, Hardison just got to the police station. They're waiting to see the Inspector in charge." Tara reported from outside the station. "Good. Once you get her out, you need to disappear." Nate ordered. "She'll never see us. How's Sterling's suspect?" Tara asked Nate. "You mean the financial genius Alexander Lundy? Yeah, definitely guilty." Nate said. Kaira tuned into the conversation. Karia found it weird that as soon as Sterling mentioned the egg, his assistant pulled out the insurance paperwork and his schedule to cover his alibi. Kaira thought to herself that Lundy could have still planned to frame Maggie for the robbery. Eliot and Hardison were talking to the Inspector, hoping to use reason to get Maggie out of jail. "No." The Inspector said. The trio there were in suits. "Maybe we've been unclear. We were sent by the American Embassy." Eliot said. "We have documents authorized by our government, requesting the release of Maggie Collins into the U.S Embassy's custody." Hardison said, showing the documents again. "No." The Inspector repeated. "Why are you being so ignorant of the documents in front of you? Which, might I add, took up a lot of my colleague's time and energy to make." Kaira asked, getting annoyed. "If I release Miss Collins, I have no guarantee she will return for trial. She will run straight to American Embassy, where she will be untouchable, and I will be made fool. Nyet. That means no." The Inspector said. "Yeah. We got it." Eliot said. "Okay, you cannot out-bureaucrat a former Soviet Union Bureaucrat. These guys gamed the most corrupt system on earth for 50 years. Paperwork's not gonna cut it. They're used to trading favors, not forms." Tara said, giving Kaira an idea. <em>"Do you even have a case against Miss Collins?</em>" Kaira asked in Ukrainian. "<em>Yes.</em>" The Inspector answered. Eliot and Hardison looked at her confused. "<em>No you don't. All you have is circumstantial evidence any decent lawyer will get dismissed. You found Miss Collins unconscious when you found her, and I read the police report. I know her credentials were used. One look at her schedule will show that she was there to inspect Russian artifacts. And if you look at her phone logs, I bet she called someone about inspecting the artifacts. Plus, what motive would she have? I get how your type operates. I know it'll be stupid to bribe you. You like trades. I'll make you a deal.</em>" Kaira said. She pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it. She handed it to the inspector, who dialed a number on the phone. The Inspector spoke to Tara on the other side of the line. She spoke Russian. The Inspector put the phone down and stamped a paper. "Okay." The Inspector said. They left and went to make sure Maggie got out. She did. Eliot, Kaira, and Tara mostly waited around, hiding until Nate came them more of what to do. After Nate lied through the nteraction with Maggie, saying they didn't break her out, saying she was released, which Maggie didn't care about, but was grateful she was out. Then Hardison and Parker went to Lundy to hack his phone, and Nate figured out that Maggie's credentials were stolen and that she had a meeting with Lundy before the robbery, where her codes and I.D could have been stolen. Finally, Nate gave the trio some instructions. Hardison told them to go to a park and find a guy named Adrian Chernov.</p><p>The trio found him, and Eliot went to confirm it. "Chernov." Eliot pointed out the guy sitting a few benches away. "I got this one." Tara said. "Really? What are you gonna say to him? Cause we got no cover story. We got no background on this cat." Eliot said, getting a bit annoyed with Tara. "Okay. That's it, then. I won't say anything. Really. Not one word. Just when he turns around and looks at you, do that thing with your eyes that scares people." Tara said. She stood up and started walking. "I don't... know what you're talking about." Eliot said, flustered as Tara walked over to Chernov. "Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Tara said, turning towards Eliot. She sat next to Chernov, who had opened a sandwich. Tara snatched it and took a bite. "What the..." Chernov questioned, concerned with what was happening. "Who the hell are you? Do I know you? Did Samuels send you? I paid them off. I took care of it." Chernov said, trying to figure out who Tara was. She turned to Eliot and Kaira, which caused Chernov to focus on the couple. Eliot and Kaira stared at him, using the eyes Tara mentioned earlier. This worried Chernov. "Oh, God. Please. Is this about the item?" Chernov asked. Tara just shrugged her shoulders and kept eating. "I didn't know. No one told me." Chernov said as Tara looked at her watch and got up. "Wait!" Chernov exclaimed, standing up and grabbing something out of his pocket. "Here. This is all I have. I'll back out. I'm sorry." Chernov said. Tara handed him his sandwich back and grabbed the envelope Chernov handed her. Chernov then walked away, worried still about getting in trouble. Kaira chuckled as Tara turned around. "Can you teach me that?" Kaira asked. Tara smiled as she walked over. Eliot and Kaira stood up as Tara handed them the envelope and they looked at it. "What we imagine is always so much better than the reality." Tara said. "Like love?" Eliot questioned. Kaira tried not to laugh, causing her to smile at Eliot as Tara looked at him, not giving an answer. "Well, it depends on the context. Us, I think the reality is better." Kaira grinned at Eliot, who was flustered. "It's blank." Eliot said, looking at the envelope. "What?" Kaira questioned. She looked at it too. "Yeah, it is blank. That's odd." Kaira said, confused. "What the hell is this?" Eliot asked Tara. Kaira had an idea who to call to find out.</p><p>Hardison got a video conference set up with Sophie as Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira waited for her to answer. She did. "Hey, Soph." Kaira said. "Hello, my favorite band of thieves. What is it?" Sophie said. "We're doing a job, and we got this off a guy after a high priced item was stolen in Kiev." Kaira said, holding up the envelope with blank paper. "Do you know what it is?" Eliot asked Sophie. "It's a Zanzibar marketplace. The marketplace is a one-time event - crops up in a city after an important piece has been stolen. You should have seen Stockholm after the Rembrandt heist. Parking was a bloody nightmare." Sophie said. "All right, how do people find out about it?" Eliot asked Sophie. "Well, the prospective buyers are invited by their black-market contacts. They show up, they verify the merchandise, and they make a sealed bid. Hey, um, shine an ultraviolet light on that card." Sophie said. Hardison reached in his bag and grabbed a small ultraviolet flashlight. "Seriously? You have one just lying around?" Eliot questioned. Hardison didn't even bat an eye. "The bidder's I.D number and the time of the auction's encrypted on the card." Sophie said as Hardison shined the light on the card and Kaira saw the time; 20:30, and the number 729 on it. "The bidders write their bid on the back of the card - one number, no zeros, and then they hand it to the seller in a sealed envelope. They leave town immediately. A week later, if they win, they transfer the money, and the merchandise is couriered to them by messenger as soon as the heat's died down." Sophie finished explaining. "So, no names, no contact with the money or the item? Nice." Hardison said. "All right, a marketplace means multiple buyers all at the same time. Where's he gonna do this without drawing attention?" Eliot asked at Nate arrived. "At the embassy." Nate said, walking to the other side of the room as the trio looked at each other and Hardison shut the laptop. "The American Embassy is having a party tonight. Perfect cover." Nate said, looking at the trio as if nothing happened. "Embassy's a great place to store stolen merchandise." Eliot said. "Yeah, security's heavy, and law enforcement can't make it through the gate without creating an incident. And it's American territory, so there's all the hoops with that." Kaira pointed out. "Well, even if we can prove that Alexander has the egg, police can't touch him. Search for it." Nate pointed out. "So, look, if we can't let lose the dogs of law enforcement on him, what do we do?" Hardison asked. "We, uh, steal the damn thing back." Nate said. The team seemed to agree with the plan and got ready for the party. Nate went to fill in Sterling to get them tickets to enter and made a plan.</p><p>They all walked in, with Tara and Nate going in as a duo and Eliot, Kaira, and Parker as guests with Hardison on watch in the van. "Best be right about all this. I pulled a lot of strings to get tickets for all of you." Sterling said. "All of you? Wait, no, Hardison - he's in the van, eating stale candy while all you get to dine on canapés and - and champagne. I love canapés." Hardison said. "I'm terribly sorry about that. The company has to draw the line somewhere. I can assure you it has nothing to do with our little incident last year." Sterling said. "Oh, you mean the incident where I came within five feet of blowing your ass up? Yeah, I'm sure it has nothing to do with that at all. Van smells like cabbage." Hardison said. "Hardison, I bought you candy a couple of days ago. Did you eat it already?" Kaira asked. "Maybe." Hardison answered. "Hardison." Kaira groaned as Hardison tried to speak, but couldn't. "How do you put up with all this nagging in your ear?" Sterling asked. "I've learned to block most of it out." Tara said. "Yeah, not that hard. Also, there's a mute thingy." Kaira said. "Okay, guys. Tara's on the grift. She's got the bidding envelope, so she's gonna head into the auction." Nate said, walking with Tara with Sterling behind him. "Nate, there's something I need to tell you." Sterling said. "Now, guys, once she spots the egg, Eliot, Parker, Kaira, you move in and clean it out." Nate said. "How are we gonna turn Lundy over to the cops?" Eliot asked. "Well, we're not. We're gonna get the egg, and then Sterling's gonna use his pull with I.Y.S to clear Maggie. Clearing Maggie is the priority, guys." Nate said. Sterling then looked like he was trying to remember what he wanted to tell Nate. "It's on the tip of my tongue." Sterling said as he turned around. Kaira turned to what Sterling was looking at. It was Maggie with Lundy. They kissed, looking lovingly at each other. Kaira was shocked. "Oh, yes. That. Try to have fun, now." Sterling said. "Sterling, you're an asshole, you know that. That's a pretty big thing to just conveniently leave out." Kaira groaned. Nate's expression showed he didn't like what he was seeing, and Maggie just shook her head no, not liking that Nate was there. "Alexander's seen you with me, so you can't be the bidder. Eliot, Kaira, you're first team." Nate said. "He needs the envelope." Tara said. "So get it to him. Make sure Maggie doesn't see Eliot, Kaira, or Parker." Nate said, turning around as Tara grabbed the envelope. "Parker, double reverse on three." Tara said. She put the envelope on a serving tray as she put a glass on another, then Parker grabbed the envelope from the tray as Eliot and Kaira started walking. Parker put her hand behind her and Eliot grabbed it, walking hand in hand with Kaira as they left. "Nate, I thought you said your friends were gone." Maggie said to Nate. Kaira was tempted to listen to the conversation, but she didn't want to feel any more awkward than she did.</p><p>She and Eliot rushed to the room. A security guard stopped Eliot. "Ooh, sorry. We're uh, a little bit lost. I-I have on of these." Eliot said, pulling out the envelope as Kaira clocked the people in the room. The guy came in with a briefcase, which Kaira thought was strange. The security guard verified it and let them go through. "All right, Nate, he's hired some local security on the payroll." Eliot whispered as the couple walked to a seat. "Watch yourself." Kaira warned, whispering as she sat down with Eliot. Kaira once again focused on the auction and not on the totally awkward conversation between Nate and Tara and Maggie and Lundy. Nothing like your father figures ex-wife showing up with her new boyfriend, who you're robbing from. Kaira refocused on the auction. "Okay, you guys, Alexander's on the move. Don't let that egg out of your sight." Nate ordered. "All right, they're about to present the merchandise." Eliot reported, whispering. They watched as the auctioneer pulled a laptop out of the briefcase. Kaira was confused. "Uh, Nathan, we got a problem. The egg isn't in the room. It's being shown on a laptop." Kaira reported, whispering. "Smart. Okay, Eliot, Kaira get them to prove that it's not an old recording. I'll trace the signal." Hardison said. Kaira then pretended to whisper to Eliot before he raised his hand. "Uh, pardon me. I'm sor - am I the only one that - my wife brought up a point I want to address. How do we know it's not a recording? Could you ask him to move it?" Eliot asked. "I mean, it's a good point, babe, I mean any smart person, all they'd have to do is overlay the image of the egg over the wifi signal, or whatever is coming out of that laptop and fake the feed." Kaira pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing. Kaira got looks as the auctioneer moved the egg. "That was actually impressive." Hardison complimented. "Thank you, Hardison." Kaira whispered as she saw the egg was being spun around. "Okay, now, worst-case scenario, that room you're looking at is 100 miles away. I am checking the internet traffic in and out of the embassy network. Just give me a few more seconds." Hardison said. Karia quickly thought of a plan. "Excuse me. I'm sorry, can you have him show me a five, three, five, two, please? Just so I'm confident in this sale." Kaira asked the auctioneer as the other customers were slightly annoyed.</p><p>The auctioneer asked whoever was on the end to do what Kaira asked. He did. "You're out of time, Hardison." Eliot reported back. "Look, nothing coming out of the embassy pipeline is big enough to be that camera feed. That room is inside the building. Eliot, Kaira, do you see any wires running into the laptop?" Hardison asked. "No." Eliot said. "Okay, that means they're running it off their AD HOC wireless network. All I have to do is isolate the camera's I.P address. See, all the Cold War Embassies were honeycombed with secret corridors and - and - and secret rooms for listening posts, but not all of them are used anymore. Parker, I'm sending you the map right now. Just follow the ping. That's your egg room." Hardison said. "I got it." Parker said. Eliot and Kaira waited at the auction to see what was happening as Nate and Maggie went to go find Lundy. It was a moment before Parker spoke. "I'm right outside the door. There's no sign of Alexander down here." Parker reported. Just then the auctioneer closed the laptop and asked for the bids. "All right, Parker, they just shut off the feed to the egg room, okay?" Eliot reported. "Whoever is in that room will be exiting now." Kaira warned Parker. Kaira waited to hear what happened. Parker sighed, annoyed. "I can't get past him." Parker reported. "I'm out of position." Tara said. "Us as well." Kaira reported as Eliot got up to put in the bid. Kaira then all of a sudden heard Sterling coughing and acting drunk as he distracted the guard to get Parker through. "I've got the package." Parker reported. "Great. Let's clear out before the realize the egg is gone. Anyone seen Nate?" Tara said. "I second that motion. Nathan, whatever you got going with Maggie, finish it and meet us at the rendezvous. And thank you, Sterling. You're still a bastard, though." Karia said as she exited the auction with Eliot hand in hand.</p><p>"You're welcome. I don't know how you people ever manage -" Sterling said before feedback was on his comm. Kaira smiled as she knew what was happening. "Oh, I'm sorry, man. That just happens sometimes with the earbuds - you know, feedback." Hardison said. "As I was saying, the method -" Sterling was saying before more feedback happened. Kaira smiled again. "Sorry." Hardison said. "All right, Hardison, knock it off. Sterling did just save Parker's ass. Let the man be." Kaira said as her and Eliot arrived back at the party. "This isn't gonna stop until I -" Sterling was saying before Hardison did the feedback again. "Stop talking. Shh. Please." Hardison said. "Hardison, stop or I won't buy you any more candy." Kaira whispered to Hardison, warning him not to do that again. Eliot and Kaira stood behind Tara, looking into the crowd, waiting for Nate. "Where's Nate?" Eliot asked. "I swear I saw him duck in here." Maggie said. "Yes, but we haven't checked the southeast corridor, and, you know, I'd really like to give him the good news myself." Nate said, using the comm voice he used. "I've heard that voice before." Maggie said. "What?" Nate questioned Maggie, trying to brush off what she was implying. "You don't even know that you do it, do you?" Maggie asked Nate. "I'm sorry, doing what?" Nate asked Maggie. "That's your intercom voice." Maggie said, taking out Nate's comm. "Maggie, listen -" Nate tried to explain. "You lied to me!" Maggie said. Nate kept hearing Nate repeat wait. "Maggie, Alexander -" Nate was about to explain. "You need to know -" Nate tried to continue explaining. "Do not drag him into this." Maggie said. "Well, he's already into this, okay, more than you - I hate to be the one to tell you." Nate said before Kaira heard Maggie yell to Nate and him yell. Kaira got nervous as the team went back to the hotel they were staying at.</p><p>The team gathered around Hardison at the table with the egg in the case as he tried Nathan on the comms and on his phone. Neither worked. "This isn't good. I can't get him on the cellphone, not on the comm." Hardison reported, worried about Nate, as was the rest of the team, none more than Kaira, who was pacing and shaking her arms. She hadn't done that in years. Not since she joined the army. "Case is closed, people. The egg is back. I'm sure Nate is breaking it to Maggie about her continued poor choice in men." Sterling said. Kaira was about to go off, but then the phone rang. "It's Nate's cell." Hardison said. He answered the call. "We have your people. No police. Await further instructions." A distorted voice said. Kaira breathed out to calm down. "Okay, first, Sterling, we aren't done until we get Nate and Maggie back. Second, obviously used a voice distorter, so Hardison see if you can reverse it." Kaira said as she was pacing, trying to calm down by working the problem like a case. "And Sterling, put the goddamn phone away, or so help me God I will break you damn hand." Kaira yelled at Sterling. Sterling looked at Kaira, surprised Kaira yelled. "What are you doing?" Tara asked Sterling. "Calling the police. They don't get to dictate to-" Sterling said before Eliot grabbed the phone. "We're not calling the cops. Two hostages means they can kill one to make a point." Eliot said, taking charge. Kaira calmed down a little and looked at the team, but she was still shaking her arms. "All right, listen. There's three types of calls we can get next." Eliot said. "One is what we call the Amateur. It's cash and a dumpsite." Kaira said. "Number two - Professional. That's wire transfers and multiple location drop offs." Eliot said. "And the third is targeted." Kaira explained. "Targeted towards us?" Hardison asked. "No. Towards a specific ransom demand -" Eliot said before Kaira finished his thought. "No doubt the egg." Kaira said, still pacing. "You're not risking a nine million artifact..." Sterling was saying before Eliot jumped him. "It might be the only chance." Eliot said when Sterling kept talking. "...on a hunch!" Sterling yelled, clearly wanting to take the egg and run. "Let me run this. We track the calls, find out whoever it is, have the police surround -" Sterling said. Kaira then got in Sterling's face, grabbing his shirt. "You son of a bitch! You just want to take the egg and run, don't you? Well, you're shit out of luck because one of the few people I care about who gave a shit about me is being held hostage, so I am going to get him back. And we need the egg to do that. Me and Eliot know what we're doing, so shut the hell up and let us do what we do best. Retrieval. Speaking of, has anyone tried climbing through Hell to get your soul back? Cause you seem to lack one." Kaira about screamed at Sterling as Eliot kept telling Kaira to get off.</p><p>Finally, Eliot got Kaira off and Kaira fought to escape. "Kaira, stop! You aren't gonna help Nate if you don't calm down!" Eliot exclaimed at Kaira, holding her to calm down. She calmed down some and fell to the ground numb. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about Nathan and Maggie." Kaira looked up at the team, embarrassed as Eliot helped her up. "It's okay." Eliot said, grabbing Kaira's hand to squeeze. "Sterling, we're retrieval specialists. That's our job." Eliot said, bringing Kaira around to stand beside Hardison. "Your friends' lives hang in the balance, and you're gonna take your cues off a punch-up artist instead of me?" Sterling questioned, insulted. "Hell yes and anytime. Wouldn't have married him if I didn't trust him." Kaira hissed at Sterling, the team also agreeing with Kaira. Sterling shut the case and grabbed it. "Call me when you need me. Cause you will need me." Sterling said. "We'll need the egg, not you. Just get the Hell out, you bastard." Kaira hissed at Sterling as he was leaving. Kaira waited for Sterling to leave before hugging Eliot and looking at the team. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone off like that. Just, Sterling really pisses me off, and I hadn't done the whole shaky arm thing since high school." Kaira answered apologetically. Eliot kissed Kaira's forehead, whispering it was okay. The team showed they were okay. They started making a plan. Tara and Parker left to check if Lundy was at home or the Embassy as Hardison tried seeing who the voice was on the other end of the phone call. Soon, Parker and Tara arrived back and reported in.</p><p>Eliot and Hardison were sitting down with Kaira on Eliot's lap. "There's no sign of Alexander at his home or the Embassy." Tara reported, putting her coat on the table and sitting down. "And his Embassy car has been signed out. He's spooked." Parker reported, also sitting down. "He's angry. We took his payday." Eliot said. Then the phone ringed again. "All right, all right." Eliot said, motioning for everyone to be quiet as he pulled the speaker closer to him. Kaira nodded to go ahead and answer the phone. "Go." Eliot said. "If you follow our instructions, your friends will be returned unharmed." The distorted voice from earlier said. "We agree. Tell us what you want." Eliot said. "You owe me 9 million dollars." The voice said before becoming clearer. Hardison got Eliot's attention quietly. "It's Alex. It's Alexander." Hardison whispered. "I still have a buyer for the egg. Return it, and I return your friends." Lundy said. "I want proof of life now." Eliot said. "Agreed." Lundy said. Soon, Hardison got sent a video, which showed Nate and Maggie listening to Lundy's assistant. "There's proof of life." Kaira said. "I didn't have access to all of his books." The assistant said, explaining what happened. "I was in that room earlier." Parker said. "That's the room the egg was in." Eliot said. "They're at the Embassy." Parker pointed out. Kaira groaned and laid her head down. "I really want to go in there, but I know we can't." Kaira said, not liking the options. "Immigration papers, which, you know, my team found." Nate was saying before Maggie and Nate got into an argument about Nate lying to Maggie. Kaira groaned again as the feed stopped. "I've sent you an address. Come alone at dawn. Bring the egg...or your friends die." Lundy said as Hardison got sent the address. Eliot hung up and pushed the speaker away. Hardison pulled up the address. "Okay, the address is one of Alexander's construction sites - local project. Abandoned after his business got in trouble." Hardison explained. "So, now we have to go convince Sterling, who hates you -" Tara said. "Us. Hates us." Parker corrected. "To loan you a nine million dollar antique so you can bring it to a ransom drop?" Tara questioned the logistics. "Listen, listen - we know who's behind this, all right? We know what they want. We have the upper hand here. We do." Eliot said. The team got to work. Kaira called Sterling to give them the egg, apologizing for earlier as Hardison did some more research and they waited for dawn.</p><p>Soon it was dawn and Eliot and Kaira were waiting at the elevator on the 20th floor. Everyone was in positions. Eliot then heard his phone ring. "Go." Eliot answered. "Put the egg in the elevator. Send it down. We send your people up." The assistant Sam was heard. "I want proof of life." Eliot said. "So do I. Picture of the egg. Now." Sam said. Eliot got the photo, which was of just Nate and Maggie, unharmed. Kaira breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't dead. Eliot then opened the case and took a picture of the egg and sent it. Eliot went into the elevator and sat the case down. "It's on its way down." Eliot said as the elevator shut. Eliot and Kaira watched the right elevator go down, as the left elevator went up. Eliot and Kaira waited for something to happen. And something did. When the right elevator was at 20, there was an explosion. Parker had switched the bomb to the elevator Eliot sent up, and put the egg in the elevator that was sent down. Parker had told Hardison to go, as he hacked into the elevator and tricked the numbers, giving Parker time to make the switch. As soon as the elevator door opened, Kaira ran in and hugged Nathan, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank God you're okay, Nathan!" Kaira said, relieved. Nate smiled, hugging Kaira, and kissing the top of her head in gratitude. Kaira then went over to Maggie and hugged her. "You okay?" Kaira asked Maggie. "Yeah. I'm okay. Good to see you again, Kaira." Maggie said. Nate cleared his throat and motioned to the cuffs. "If you would, please Kaira?" Nate asked. "Oh, right. Sorry." Kaira said, pulling out a bobby pin from her hair, which had been in a bun. She picked Nate's cuff first, then Maggie's, then Lundy. "I never introduced myself. My name's Kaira Spencer. I'm a friend of Nate's." Kaira answered as she picked the lock. Lundy was scarred still as they all exited.</p><p>Lundy then started to throw up as the team cleaned up. "It's okay. First bomb is always the hardest." Parker told Lundy, walking away. "Parker, not that helpful." Kaira told Parker, just glad everyone was okay. Nate said something to Maggie, and Maggie was embarrassed to talk about it. Kaira thought she knew what it was, judging by the kissing sounds she thought she heard from Parker's comm. "Okay, how in the world did you get the elevators to stop without the numbers stopping?" Nate asked the team. "I sped them up 1.5 seconds per floor for the first 10 floors and then I sent them to regular speed for the last 10 floors. There was a 15-second window in the middle for Parker to work her magic." Hardison explained, coming next to Eliot. Tara then showed up, holding a license plate. "Looks like I missed the party." Tara said. "They do what we thought?" Eliot asked Tara. "Oh, yeah. Ran right to their little Embassy car and headed straight for the airport, fast as they could." Tara said. Tara revealed she switched the plates. "How did..." Nate asked. "Webcam." Eliot said. "There was no sound the first time when me and Eliot watched it for the auction. But they turned the sound on when Eliot asked for proof of life." Kaira said. "Was it because they wanted us to hear Sam's performance? It's 101, man. After that, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out." Eliot said. "It also helps when your wife learned negotiation tactics, and learned how to deal with ransoms in the army." Kaira smirked at Eliot. "You know, people underestimate you, Eliot and Kaira." Maggie said. "That's kind of the point." Nate told Maggie. Just then Lundy opened the case. "Hey... where's the egg?" Lundy asked. "Yeah, in order for us to, uh, get the egg from Sterling, he made some additions to the plan." Eliot said. Kaira then flashed back to Eliot throwing Sterling the egg before putting the case in the elevator.</p><p>They left and went back to Boston. The next day, they saw the news that Sterling took credit for finding the egg, causing the team to not be happy, especially when the news reported that Sterling was invited to join Interpol. Kaira gasped at the knowledge. "Interpol? Seriously?" Parker questioned. "Sterling's career gets another boost off of our hand." Hardison said. "We didn't even get paid." Tara said, also not happy. "Nope." Hardison said, agreeing. "I hate this guy." Tara said. Kaira chuckled. "Welcome to the club." Kaira smiled as she clunked bottles with Tara. Eliot then left with Kaira as they finished their beers. Kaira walked by Nate and Kaira could smell the Irish whiskey in Nate's coffee cup. Kaira just kept walking, hoping that the next day would be better.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for all the support! As always, much love to you all! Stay Safe! </p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. The Future Job (2x13)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team's latest client is a man with a recently widowed sister who is getting strung along by a con man masquerading as a psychic. The job? Make sure the psychic can't steal anymore money from people, and get the young widow her money back. But when their con goes too far, and the mark gets kidnapped, the team is forced to intervene to save the day.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! How are you? Did you drink water today? Did you eat anything today? Did you get your ass out of bed? Good! Remember you are all beautiful people! And my messages are always open if you want to chat with me about anything! Now that's out of the way, here is episode 13 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira and Eliot got the call from Nate that they had another job. Their mark, Dalton Rand - a man masquerading as a psychic for tv viewers. Kaira, Parker, and Nate decided to go to one of his shows to see what he does. The trio waited in the very long line. "So, this is where he shoots his show, huh? Surrounded by warehouses and storage lockers?" Parker questioned. "Well, it's uh, local cable access. He's self-financing - you know, probably trying to score a bigger payday - network or something, probably." Nate inferred. "Yeah, you're right about that. I've hacked Rand's website, stole his passwords, and used them to access his e-mail. You know, this man has his computer hooked up to the city's free wi-fi? My nana could hack this thing." Hardison said from the van that was around the corner with Tara. "Hardison. Not everyone is a genius as you." Kaira said. "Thank you. Well, after looking at Rand's computer, it looks like there's gonna be a network scout from WMN in the audience today. Sounds like he's trying to go prime time." Hardison said. "Tv show means a control room. I'll see what I can find." Eliot said on comes from inside the studio. "Makes sense. He goes on a network, he can reach more people. More people means more chances to pull the same scam like he did with the client's sister." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>Then Parker, Nate, and Kaira walked in and sat down, Parker and Nate next to each other, Kaira sat behind. An older blond woman turned to Parker and Kaira. "Who are you hoping comes through today?" The woman asked the ladies. "Nothing. Uh, nobody. I don't want to talk to anybody." Parker said, rather quickly. "Nobody worth mentioning." Kaira answered. Parker seemed really uncomfortable. "What's wrong?" Nate asked Parker, whispering. "I just don't like psychics okay? They freak me out." Parker whispered. "Parker, just relax, okay? We're only here to see what Rand's tricks are." Kaira told Parker, holding her shoulder to calm Parker down.</p><p>Then start up music started and Rand popped out and waved to the crowd, who was clapping. "Thank you all for coming. I'd like to just jump right in here, because I'm feeling an energy. It's coming from... someone over where." Rand motioned to the opposite side Kaira, Parker, and Nate were on. "Uh... an M. Mmmm..." Rand said like he was trying to figure it out. "I'm Monica." A random woman in the audience said. "I'm getting an L name that connects with you. Lucky. Lucy." Rand said, throwing the names out. Kaira already caught two of the tricks. The cold read and the mics and webcams she saw outside. And under the seat when she went to go sit down. "Lucille?" Monica questioned, answering Rand's unspoken question. "It's... maternal energy. Your grandmother, is that right?" Rand asked Monica. Monica confirmed it. "You should know she's very proud of you." Rand finished. The audience clapped.</p><p>Kaira heard Eliot finding the studio and planted the device so Hardison had access to the feeds. "And we're in. Now we see what they see." Hardison said. "What is that smell?" Tara asked Hardison. "What smell? I-I just washed this thing. You could eat off the floor." Hardison said, offended. "No, there's definitely a smell." Tara said before Kaira tuned back in to Rand.</p><p>"There's something else coming through right now. It's, uh... is it - is it Fred? Or - or Frank?" Rand asked the audience, hoping to get a reaction. "I got a gecko named Frank." Nate said, causing the audience to laugh. "He's alive, though, yeah. I mean, at least he was this morning when I left. Are you trying to tell me something about...?" Nate said, hoping to throw Rand off. "It's uh, it's not a gecko. You shut yourself off to the energies that are around us, but your friends here - they're a little more receptive. In fact, I'm getting two energies right now. Both are definitely family. I'll start with the blond lady first. Is it your father?" Rand said, causing Kaira to perk up and try to keep herself and Parker calm.</p><p>"No. No, both are siblings." Rand said, walking up, causing the flight or fight response in Kaira to start kicking in. "You, a brother, and your friend back there, her sister." Rand started. Kaira tried to keep calm to trick Rand, but it was too late. She was falling for the trick. Kaira just tried to keep Parker calm. "You were both very young. It was an accident." Rand said to Parker. "I see a road. I see... a car. But your brother's not in the car. He's in the street. Wheels. I see wheels. A skateboard. No. A bicycle. Was he riding a bicycle when he was struck? He's been gone a long time from you now. He's sorry that he had to leave you. He knows... that you feel responsible. But he wants you to know it was an accident. You taught him to ride that bike, didn't you?" Rand went, causing Parker to get emotional. Kaira kept holding onto her shoulder, so she wouldn't leave just yet.</p><p>"I'm seeing a hospital." Rand said, focusing on Kaira. She tried to keep a straight face. "Cancer, wasn't it?" Rand asked Kaira. "You are treading on some thin ice, Mr. Rand." Kaira said, growling as a warning to back off as she was emotional. "She wants you to know all those nights you stayed by her side were the best moments of her life." Rand said. Kaira had enough and burst out of her seat as Parker ran down the steps and Kaira punched Rand. She was breathing heavily as she stood up and Rand was composing himself. Nate grabbed Kaira and calmed her down. "You asshole. I know damn well what you did." Kaira whispered to Rand, warning him as she walked out to meet with Parker. Nate followed behind. "Damn. He is good." Tara said, quietly. "He should be shot." Hardison said. "I second that motion." Kaira growled as she found Eliot, who heard her outburst. He calmed her down some and Kaira and Parker drove home separately.</p><p>They laid against the couch, red-eyed and glassy from crying. They just sat, hugging each other as they tried to settle down. Soon, the rest of the team walked in. "Parker. Kaira." Nate said, concerned. "You know, it's been almost exactly nine years since Kasey died. And eight years since my parents died. I just miss her." Kaira started crying again, thinking about Kasey. Eliot walked over and sat next to Kaira, hugging her as the rest of the team sat down. "There's no way he could have known that stuff. I've never told anyone. No one. Ever." Parker said, still emotional and upset. "Parker, he didn't know anything." Nate said, about to explain what happened. "No, Nate. Kaira said we'd find a trick up his sleeve. She said we'd find a trick. Well, we didn't find a trick, did we? He knew things. He's really psychic." Parker said, causing Kaira to hug her to calm down. "Parker we did. Someone else explain it. I'm too tired to." Kaira said, trying to calm herself and Parker down. "He's not a psychic, Parker. He's just a con man." Eliot said, holding Kaira's hand to calm her down.</p><p>"He just did a cold read on both of you. That's all." Nate said. "He just asked questions and used your answers to guide him." Tara continued explaining. "But we didn't say anything." Parker said, her voice breaking. "You didn't have to. Can I show you something?" Nate asked the girls softly. Kaira nodded yes. Nate nodded to Hardison to pull up the footage of Parker and Kaira's reading on the screens. "Right - right - right there. Do you remember when he asked you, "Is this energy that I'm getting - does it have anything to do with your father?" Do you remember? Well, you furrowed your eyebrow. You might as well have told him no." Nate said. "And they when he keyed in on your brother and Kaira's sister - right here - both of your eyes widened just slightly. And Kaira showed anger, so he knew he hit the spot with that." Tara explained. "And then he just guessed, Parker. He got a hit when he said you were both very young, and he just went with the odds - an accident of some kind." Hardison explained calmly. "But he knew about the bicycle." Parker said. Kaira squeezed her hand. "Parker, he said wheels. He moved to skateboard, but you told him about the bicycle." Kaira explained, still trying to keep herself in check. "No, I didn't say anything." Parker reiterated. "You have a tell, Parker. Your mouth opened slightly, and he noticed your surprise. Then he guessed. And he read me like a damn book. I tried to stay calm, but he just hit the spot, and I just snapped." Kaira said, trying to keep calm.</p><p>"He used all of these things during the reading - how your breathing changed, if your shoulders were raised or slouched, how you were holding your hands if your lips were pursed." Tara explained. "But what about the other people in the audience? He knew names and relationships." Parker questioned. "Yeah, the hot read. What he does is he researches before the show, gets himself armed with as much information as possible to help him with the readings. It's not really that much different than what we do." Nate explained. "But he doesn't know who's gonna be in the audience ahead of time." Parker pointed out. "Well, no. No, he doesn't. He doesn't know... until they're there." Nate said. "When we were in line, Parker, I clocked cameras and mics everywhere to pick up anything he could use." Kaira explained to Parker. "He also has a plant. He's got an assistant who stands in line and pretends to be part of the audience." Tara said. "And that person feeds him the information about the readings in his ear using earbuds just like we do." Nate said. Hardison then pulled up a screen showing cameras and mics. "Guys, there's like... a dozen hidden cameras and the bug Eliot planted in the control room. I got audio feeds off of 20 hidden microphones that were taped to the chairs in the audience. I-I got names, people they wanted to contact, dates." Hardison said. "And that is what Rand has hidden up his sleeve." Nate concluded. "So, what do we do now?" Tara asked, wondering what the plan was.</p><p>"Cut off his arms. And his head. Yeah. I want to kill him. Can we make that happen?" Parker asked, serious. "Yeah. I can - I mean, I could..." Eliot offered, causing a chuckle from Kaira. "Thank you, baby. But that won't be satisfying." Kaira answered, turning to Eliot, offering a smile. "Or we could give him exactly what he wants. And then make the world think that he's the greatest psychic that ever lived, and then, in front of the network and his audience, we destroy him." Nate said, looking at Parker. Parker chuckled softly and smiled at the idea. "How do we do that?" Eliot asked. "We go and steal the future." Nate said. They went to make a plan as Kaira and Parker calmed down. Hardison canceled some of Rand's meetings and got Tara's alias ready and Kaira was waiting, watching for Rand two days later.</p><p>They set Tara up with Nate, acting like she was reading his hand. Rand arrived and started walking to them, chirping his car alarm. "Here he comes." Tara said, cueing Nate to start his thing. "Just incredible." Nate said. He got out of his seat as Rand watched. "Here, let me give you something for - for all you've given me." Nate said, getting up and reaching for his wallet. "Please, you know I can't accept that." Tara said, acting like she was dismissing the offer. "You know, I always thought you guys were, you know, fakes. And I just saw this one guy the other night -" Nate tried arguing. "That's not why I do this." Tara told Nate. "You sure?" Nate asked before putting his wallet away and leaving.</p><p>Kaira caught Rand walking up to Tara as she followed Nate to the van. "How may the spirits serve you today?" Tara asked Rand. "Maybe they can explain why you keep... poaching my clients." Rand said. Tara chuckled. "I must apologize, Mr. Rand. It's true I've had more visitors lately, but I had no idea it was at your expense. I'm Bethany. Bethany Noble." Tara said, apologizing and introducing herself. "The, uh, outfit is a little on the nose, but other than that, I got to say, I find your shtick amusing." Rand said. "I'm sorry?" Tara questioned Rand. "Working out of a coffee shop? No neon lights. No tarot cards or ouija boards. So, what's your story? You got me curious." Rand told Tara. "Two years ago, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The doctors removed it, but ever since... I guess you could say I was twice blessed - with renewed life and with this gift." Tara said. "You're serious." Rand questioned. It was silent for a moment. "Do you feel the scar?" Tara asked. "All right then. Tell me something that only the spirits would know. Tell me about my father - how he died." Rand said.</p><p>Hardison quickly started typing on his computer. "Don't worry. I got you, girl." Hardison said. "Wait a minute. We didn't give her that scar, did we?" Eliot questioned, holding Kaira. "No, we did not." Nate said. Hardison filled Tara in. "Well, I could channel your father, Mr. Rand, but that might be difficult seeing how he's still alive. Indiana, isn't it? Do you still have the prayer book he gave you?" Tara told Rand. "What's wrong?" Tara asked Rand. "I felt something." Rand said. "Nate had me rig the table with a mild electrical current." Hardison said, holding the remote. "You electrocuted him?" Eliot questioned. "Yes, I did. It helps sell the bit." Nate said. "I approve." Parker said. "Thanks, Parker." Nate said to Parker, amused. "No. Her agreeing with you is not a good thing." Eliot said. "Relax, cowboy. It won't kill him, just scare him a bit. Like getting shocked with static." Kaira chuckled at her husband. "Okay. You saw through a trick question. Doesn't mean anything. I'm a known commodity in this city. You could've looked me up." Rand said, not buying the act. "The spirits are all around us, watching us, guiding us. I don't need to look people up. The spirits tell me all I need to know." Tara said. "You're clairvoyant." Rand realized. "They're clairvoyant. I just listen." Tara said. "What do they say about me?" Rand asked. "You want to know your future." Tara said. She got ready. "They're calling you a different name. Do you know the way, José?" Tara said. "What?" Rand questioned. "They're saying José doesn't pay his tickets, and it will burn him. Don't ask the officer for help. He has his own problems. But don't worry - you're the life of the party, so celebrate. And bring extra cash because you won't have enough. A day late, a dollar short, and if you don't look both ways, you'll never live to see tomorrow." Tara said. "Okay. Listen, I think I've heard enough. Lady, I love your act, I really do, and I wish you all the best with it. This is my turf. Stay off it." Rand said. They got ready as Rand entered the coffee shop. Parker got his wallet as he left, and then Eliot drove away with his car. Rand then left. They waited all day as they continued turning everything Tara said into reality, with Nate nearly running Rand over.</p><p>They waited until the next day and saw that Rand was passed out on the table Tara went to sit at. She brought him coffee and sat down. "Have you been here all night?" Tara asked Rand. "Bethany. It happened. All of it happened just like you said it would. How do you do it?" Rand said, desperate. "I'm just a conduit. I don't do anything. I simply speak what's on their minds." Tara said. "You got to come work for me." Rand offered. "My gift is just that - it's a gift. It's meant to be shared, not bought and sold. And you're a charlatan, Mr. Rand. I can't be a part of that." Tara said, slightly offended. "Oh, no, no. See, I did my homework. You need me... just as much as I need you. You're in debt up to your ears. You got no steady stream of income. You will never pay off those hospital bills." Rand said. "How did you get my credit report?" Tara asked. "It doesn't matter. What matters is you and I - we can help people." Rand said, trying to get Tara on his side. "You want to use my gift to make you famous. How is that helping people?" Tara questioned. "Come on! It's just for a little while, till you get back on your feet." Rand said. "It would only temporary." Tara said, giving in. " Absolutely. Only... you got to tell me something. How do you do it? Honestly." Rand questioned Tara. Kaira thought back to the day before, where they set Rand up. Parker switched the coffee cups around and stole Rands wallet, Eliot was laughing as he drove away with Rand's car, and then Hardison set up the meet up with the officer and the fortune cookie, and then Nate and Kaira nearly ran Rand over in the car. "The truth is, I have a lot of help." Tara said. Rand left, satisfied, and drove Tara to his studio for a tapping.</p><p>The rest of the team was in various spots around the studio, waiting to aid Tara in giving her the information to sell to Rand. Rand brought Tara into the control room and got her set up. Hardison and Nate were back in the office, Kaira and Eliot were outside the studio, waiting for the start, and Parker was in the line, checking people in and scanning I.D's and credit card for Hardison. "Okay, you ready?" Nate asked Hardison back at the office with Nate. "You do realize what you're asking me to do is impossible, right?" Hardison questioned Nate. "There you go." Nate said, probably giving Hardison his two-liter orange soda. "And my gummy frogs. I need my gummy frogs." Hardison said. "You serious?" Nate questioned. "Yeah." Hardison said. "Second drawer left the fridge, Nate. That's Hardison's candy stash that I filled yesterday." Kaira pointed out, leaning against the wall with Eliot. "Thank you very much, Kaira. I appreciate it." Hardison said. "You're very welcome Hardison." Kaira chuckled slightly. "Okay, Parker, how's the harvest?" Nate asked. "Excuse me. Hi. There's no food or drink in the auditorium, Miss." Parker told someone. "Oh, Sorry." The lady said. "Thanks. Uh, I can only get one wallet at a time because someone is making me return them. And I still don't get why we're not just making this guy dead." Parker said. "Yeah, well, that's why you're on wallet detail." Nate said. "And humiliation is much more satisfying, Parker. Just saying." Kaira pointed out, remembering Blackpoole. "Okay, guys, show's about to begin. Tara, it's on you." Nate said, signaling the start of the job. Eliot and Kaira started looking at the cars, getting what information they could.</p><p>"Got it." Tara said. "The people that we've lost - they are not gone to us. They're on the other side, and they're trying to make contact with us, to guide us, to console us. And all of us here have at one point or another wanted to talk to them one more time. Tonight, we're gonna do just that. I feel a presence." Rand said. "Third row, aisle, yellow dress." Parker whispered to Tara through comms. "Third row on the aisle. The woman in the yellow dress." Tara said. "Got her." Hardison said. "Right there." Nate pointed out. "Sandra Kimmel, hairdresser. Credit score is really low - 580. Last posted statement - paint store, truck rental." Hardison said. "We got a 17-year old Cutlass. There's a breast cancer ribbon on the rearview mirror..." Eliot said. "She's also got some financial magazines in the back." Kaira pointed out as well before they moved on. "This presence... is someone that you loved very much. It's..." Rand said, waiting for Tara. "Her mother." Tara said. "Your mother." Rand said. "Yes." Sandra said. "Breast cancer. She died last year." Tara said. "She was taken from you just last year. Breast cancer." Rand said, not missing a beat. "Yes, t-that's right." Sandra said, getting emotional and her voice breaking. "Tell her her mother doesn't blame her for the salon going under." Tara said. Kaira was impressed with what Tara was getting right. "Your mother - she knows how much you wanted your business to succeed. It was a salon, wasn't it?" Rand said, selling the bit. "Yes." Sandra told Rand, gasping. "Her mother also knows how hard she worked on the painting, the construction." Tara said to Rand. "Your mother says that your whole life, you never asked for help. Never. She knows that you built that salon with your own two hands, and she's proud of you, no matter what happens." Rand said to Sandra. The crowd clapped in approval.</p><p>"I'm feeling another presence. It's..." Rand said, waiting on Tara again. "It's a man this time." Rand said. "I got a truck - Michigan plates, covered in mud. Two suitcases in the back." Eliot said. "Probably an all night driver." Kaira pointed out as she and Eliot went to check another vehicle for Tara. "He drove all night to get here. He didn't even check into his hotel." Tara said. "Mm, right, big floral arrangement posted to his credit card a week ago. He cancelled a fly-fishing trip the same day. Do you know what you're touching? Do you know?" Hardison said, starting to argue with Nate. "His father died last week." Tara said. "He got a call from the National Transportation Safety Board." Parker said, giving Tara more information. "It was a private plan. It went down." Tara informed Rand. "Your father died in a plane crash last week." Rand said to a guy. "That's right. How'd you know?" The guy said. "He knows... that you two had your differences, and he loves you. But he wants you to be safe. Driving 10 straight hours from Michigan to get here - that's not safe." Rand said. "That's my dad." The guy said, causing the crowd to clap.</p><p>Hardison got himself ready again. "Margaret Kusen. Both parents deceased over 20 years ago. She hired a private investigator last month." Hardison said. "She's not here to talk to anyone. She wants answers about her husband." Tara told Rand. "The spirits are telling me one thing - your husband is hiding something. I'm sorry. That's all I'm getting." Rand informed the woman. "It's okay. That's what I wanted to know." The woman said. Rand ended the show for intermission.</p><p>"I'm sorry I couldn't give you more." Tara told Rand as they walked out. Kaira and Eliot watched to make sure they were okay. "More? Are you kidding me? Save it for the pay-per-view event. I'm telling you - I'm starting to rethink this network deal." Rand said, impressed with Tara as they kept walking in the parking lot. Kaira heard a van coming. "They'll still come to the show, right?" Tara asked Rand. "Oh, yes they will come. Are you kidding? After what you did in there..." Rand said before Eliot interrupted, seeing the van pull up. "Tara, you got company." Eliot warned. The van pulled up and grabbed Rand, putting a black sack over his head as Eliot and Kaira ran to help Tara out. Eliot rammed into a guy against the van and Kaira went toe to toe with another guy and Tara fought another guy. The guys knocked the couple back and got in the van. Eliot made sure Tara was okay as Kaira ran alongside the van, trying to open the door to force them to stop, but the door was locked as the van pulled away and Kaira joined back up with Eliot and Tara. "Nate, someone just grabbed Rand." Kaira reported as they left to meet back up at the office to discuss details.</p><p>They gathered around the table. "Any theories?" Nate asked the team. "Maybe someone didn't like their psychic reading." Eliot said. "Or maybe someone liked it too much." Nate suggested. "I buy it." Kaira answered, liking the theory. "What do you mean?" Parker asked Nate. "Rand told me this was the best show he ever did." Tara said. "Now, everyone was there at the show to talk to the dead except that woman at the end - why was she there?" Nate asked. "Her husband. She thinks he's cheating on her." Tara said. "How'd you know that? All I said was she hired a private investigator." Hardison said. "Married woman in her 40's? She's not looking for the Maltese Falcon." Tara said. "What do we know about the husband?" Kaira asked Hardison. "Uh..." Hardison turned to his laptop. "Here's the guy she came in with. Let's see what the facial recognition says about... oh, hello. Nickolas Kusen, age 44. He did time in Riverview a few years back for armed robbery." Hardison said. "One of the thugs who tried to grab her had a prison tattoo." Eliot said, remembering the fight. "So, what - Kusen has a secret, and he's gonna kill Rand so he doesn't reveal it? That'd be good." Parker questioned. "No. Kusen probably wants to use Rand to contact someone involved in the crime he was busted for. You want to kill someone, you don't put a bag over their head and throw them in a van." Kaira pointed out. "All right, Kusen needs Rand for his psychic abilities. That's why he was being so secretive around his wife." Nate said. "So, let me get this straight - we did such a good job convincing people Rand was really a psychic that we got him kidnapped?" Parker questioned. "Which means that we have to find him, rescue him, and then, you know, take him down. Let's go to work." Nate ordered. He turned and walked away, causing the team to split.</p><p>Kaira took Hardison aside. "You know what this reminds me of?" Kaira asked Hardison, teasing him. Hardison looked at Kaira, already knowing what was going to happen next. "Yes, I know, woman." Hardison answered, annoyed as he started searching on his laptop. "The job where you oversold our covers and got us kidnapped by Russians." Kaira said, showing she still wasn't happy about that incident. "Woman, I said I was sorry." Hardison argued as Kaira chuckled, going to help Tara look through financial reports. Hardison soon had something to report. "I tracked the van using the city's CCTV traffic cams. They made a right on Willoughby and a left on Dunsmire. It looks like they're heading east." Hardison reported to Nate as Kaira and Tara looked through the financials and Eliot and Parker headed to a body shop.</p><p>"Okay. Give me some good news on the financials." Nate said to Tara and Kaira walking towards them. "They're all over the place, probably cash-based operation with import and export involved." Kaira informed Nate. "You know that body shop Kusen pays property tax on?" Parker told the team as she and Eliot walked in. "Let me guess - not a body shop?" Nate guessed. "It's a parking lot." Eliot informed them. "Hey, guys. I managed to track them as far as Tremont before I lost them, but they're definitely somewhere in the north end." Hardison informed the team, all looking at the screens. "If I had to guess, I would say they're being-" Hardison said before Tara spoke up. "Union Wharf? And I can do you one better. I've got an address." Tara said. They all left to take Tara to the location.</p><p>They soon arrived. Eliot, Kaira, and Tara started walking up to the warehouse. "All right. We're gonna be right outside. We can be there in seconds if you need us." Eliot told Tara as they arrived. "Let's hope I don't." Tara said. "Hey, we mean it. Watch yourself." Kaira said as Tara started walking, giving Kaira a smile before continuing to walk.</p><p>It was a moment before Tara spoke. "Excuse me." Tara said calmly as Kaira heard guns cocking. "Are you... gonna keep him long? Because we have a show later." Tara said, still calm. "And who are you?" Kusen asked Tara. "She's... with me. M-Ms. Noble. She and I, we work together. How'd you find me?" Rand said. "The spirits told me. They said you needed my help." Tara said. "Ahh. So you're psychic, too. Join us, join us. Get the lady a chair." Kusen said as he ordered his men. "As I was, uh, just explaining to Mr. Rand... I have a bit of a problem. Uh, several years ago, I was involved in a short-term business venture with a very high rate of return. An associate and I had gone into this endeavor together, but before we could split the profits from our enterprise, an unfortunate misunderstanding forced me to spend a few years in upstate New York. Have you ever been there? It's beautiful this time of year." Kusen said. "Yeah, it's - it is beautiful. Beautiful. Gorgeous." Rand said, fear in his voice. "Anyway, when I returned to claim what was mine, Mr. Brancato wasn't particularly forthcoming with the information. He passed away without revealing... it's location. And now you see my dilemma." Kusen said. "You robbed a bank, and you want us to help find where your partner hid the money." Tara concluded. "My wife is such a big fan of yours, Mr. Rand. She seems to think you have a knack for this sort of thing, so I hope it's true because this is only gonna go down two ways. Uh, you don't find the money, and I kill you... or you find the money, and I consider not killing you. So, what do you say?" Kusen said, not giving much of a choice. "Uh... Y- uh..." Rand said, trying to make something up.</p><p>"Well, at least he's not cheating on his wife." Parker said from inside the van with Hardison and Nate inside. "Okay, I found his ex-partner, Cesar Brancato. Now, his name was on the lease for the body shop that Kusen supposedly owned." Hardison informed the team. "Okay, this guy wants a bag of money? Let's get him a bag of money. Everybody listen up." Nate said before telling the team the plan. Kaira tuned in as Rand failed to get the point with Kusen, however, Tara was more successful. "I'm seeing something. It's a car, an old car. I'm walking around it now. The license plate's missing. It's a Chevrolet - A Chevrolet Malibu." Tara said, getting all the info from Hardison. "That's what he drove - A '78 Malibu." Kusen confirmed. "If we follow the car, it'll lead us to the money." Tara said.</p><p>They left the warehouse to a car park that was behind the storage units behind the studio. Kaira had gathered up the money and passed it off to Parker to plant on the car with the forged registration Hardison made. "Buy me 10 seconds." Parker said as Tara did that, pretending to faint slightly, sighting her "visions" as the reason. Kaira was helping Eliot gather materials for the storage unit they were filling. "Good to go." Parker told Tara, giving her the all-clear. Kusen had his men search the car. They found the keys that Parker planted from Nate, who got the keys for a storage unit. They drive to the storage unit and Kaira, Parker, and Eliot were trying to unload everything in the unit. "Guys, we're not ready. We got to stall. We got to stall." Hardison warned. "No, I-I'm sorry. I've lost my connection to the spirit world. I-It... it's like a car battery. I just need to recharge." Tara said, trying to buy time. "I've waited long enough." Kusen said. Before Nate intervened, acting as the owner. "I need to see your records." Kusen said to Nate, cocking a gun. "Just a few more minutes Nate. Keep 'em busy." Hardison said. "Are you cops?" Nate asked them. "Yeah. We're the K-9 unit. The dog ate my badge. Now, which unit does this key open?" Kusen threatened Nate. "Uh, right. Um...Let's see. I'm gonna have to check my records." Nate said. "Let's go look at the records." Kusen ordered. "Okay, okay, we're gonna check the records." Nate said, leading Kusen away.</p><p>The rest of the team was unloading boxes into the unit. "We need more boxes." Hardison said. "And a lot of luck." Parker said. "Yeah, well, I think we used all our luck on finding this place." Eliot said before Hardison went to grab the duct tape and put it on the wall. "Wait. Ho - ho - Man, you know what? It ain't luck, okay? Finding the perfect place to end the treasure hunt is a testimony to my intellectual prowess." Hardison said before Kaira saw Eliot drop a box labeled books on Hardison's foot as she carried another box in, causing Hardison to yell a bit. "It's baby clothes." Eliot said. "It says books, man!" Hardison yelled. "Does it?" Eliot asked. They finished setting up the room as Nate stalled Kusen. "Nate, we're good to go." Kaira reported as they cleared out and waited for the final reveal in the studio. Nate gave Kusen the unit before having Kusen look through the unit and having Tara trap them in the unit and debt cord exploding, revealing the unit behind the studio, and Rand admitting he was a fake. Kaira, Parker, Hardison, and Eliot had planted cameras in the storage unit, then piggybacked the camera and mic feeds to the studio. The police arrested both Kusen and Rand.</p><p>The team left and watched both Kusen and Rand be put in the police cars. Eliot was in the driver seat, Kaira was passenger, and everyone else was outside the van. "He who sells miracles will have the Devil knocking at his door." Hardison said. "What is that, a proverb?" Parker asked Hardison. "Fortune cookie." Hardison said. "What?" Parker questioned. "What? It started with he who." Hardison said. "You know, I think there's a circle in Hell for fake prophets and the like." Kaira smiled at the team, who chuckled in amusement. "They do make a cute pair, don't they?" Tara said. "Let's see, we got, uh, we got assault, kidnapping, and burglary for our friend Kusen, Garden-variety fraud for our psychic friend, Dalton Rand. Any way we can get them in the same prison?" Nate asked Hardison. "That could be arranged." Hardison said. "Hey, let's go, man. Let's go." Eliot said, hitting the door to get the team's attention as they started piling in. "So, all the people who thought he could talk to their loved ones on the other side - what's to stop them from falling for the next Dalton Rand?" Tara asked Nate. "Not a thing." Nate said, heading in the van. "Then why do it?" Tara asked herself. Tara got in the van and they drove back to the office to give the good news to the client and his sister.</p><p>As they left, Parker handed the money to the client and Kaira caught Tara getting emotional. Kaira smiled. Now Tara knew why they did what they do. Kaira was hugging Eliot, sipping their beers with Hardison at the bar as Parker returned. "Wait a second. I thought you said all of Rand's money went into paying for his show. I thought you said he was broke." Eliot questioned where the money came from. "It did. He was." Hardison said. "Where'd the money come from? Did you guys find the stolen money? Hmm? Did you find Kusen's loot? Without..." Eliot started to realize, getting offended as Kaira was smiling, as she did help Parker and Hardison find the money. "Unbelievable. Hmm? Sweetheart, seriously?" Eliot questioned his wife as Kaira started laughing. "I'm sorry, baby." Kaira said, following Eliot out as he took his beer and took it up to his room.</p><p>Kaira stopped Eliot just before they got to the door. "Hey, I'm sorry, baby. How can I make it up to you?" Kaira asked, getting serious. Eliot looked at her and downed the last of his beer. "A kiss would be a good start." Eliot smirked at Kaira ask she started chuckling. "Damn you, Cowboy." Kaira said, smirking as she pulled Eliot into a kiss. He smiled and opened the door, tossing the bottle in the trash can. The couple went to lay down and wind down from the day. Kaira smiled, feeling the warmth of Eliot next to her as she went to sleep and dreamed of Eliot.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! So, I wanted to do something special for you guys, as the next episodes are the finale episodes of season 2. So, I made a list of my top 10 Leverage episodes based on memorability, humor, use of characters, and development of characters. I'm going to share that list, but it will only be with the episodes I've already done, as I will add to the list as I go along with each episode. Here we go!</p><p>10.) The Two Live Crew Job (2x7) because not only is it a cool episode, it is interesting to see how the team reacts to their equals. It's not really that memorable of an episode for me, however it does have some funny moments like with Eliot and Mikels wet fight and a really good character development moment of Nate and Sophie's almost kiss at her aliases grave.</p><p>9.)</p><p>8.)</p><p>7.)</p><p>6.)</p><p>5.) The Second David Job (1x13) because not only was it one of my favorite episodes to write Kaira into, it showed a more vulnerable and ruthless side of Nate. I also really liked the reactions of everyone to Sophie's lies.</p><p>4.)</p><p>3.)</p><p>2.) The Nigerian Job (1x1) because not only is is a funny episode, it's the episode that started off the journey of our favorite crooks. I also liked how slow the development started in this episode because it left you wanting more, which is what a pilot episode's suppose to do.</p><p>1.)</p><p>Any guesses on what the blanks are? Comment them below! As always, remember to share this story with your friends! Much love to you always! Stay Safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. The Three Strikes Job (2x14)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This latest job gets personal for the team when an ally, Detective Captain Bonanno, gets shot during an investigation. The team is all in to help a friend, but did they bite off more they can chew? With a corrupt mayor and Nate once again going for the bigger mark, it's the makings of a disaster.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! I hope you enjoyed this series so far! I'm having fun writing this series! This is the semi finale of season 2! This should be a good one! Without further adieu, here is episode 14 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira got the call from Nate, saying a friend of the teams had been shot and was critical. The team had gathered at the couches, waiting for Nate. Hardison had everything for the briefing loaded up. Kaira was sitting on the arm of the loveseat on top of Eliot, Parker on the couch with Tara, and Hardison on the other couch. Tara left to get Nate, who was gonna meet them after checking on Bonanno. They came back and Tara sat down, and Nate paced at the screen, which showed the article about the shooting. The team, besides Tara as she didn't know who he was, was sad and bitter. "So, is he gonna be okay?" Parker asked Nate. "Uh, they don't know." Nate said, defeated and pacing. "Okay, this guy's a cop. You're thieves." Tara said, unsure of why everyone was upset. "I'm not a thief!" Nate yelled, pointing at Tara. "Bonanno is the cop that we tip-off when we need to put the cuffs on a mark." Nate explained, sitting on a chair and calming down some. "And an honest man. He of all people doesn't deserve this. I mean, he's got a wife and kid." Kaira pointed out, upset. "Look, you do realize we're gonna be covering the same ground as the state cops on this one - hundreds of angry, very highly motivated state cops." Hardison pointed out as a warning. "Wha - by the way, guys, whoever shot him up was using military-grade weaponry -" Eliot tried to explain. "Well, you know what?! I don't care! I don't care about that! This guy dedicated his life to doing the right thing! And this is his payback? I mean, his family's pain is what he deserves? If we don't settle the score on this, why do we do this? You understand?" Nate all but screamed at the team, getting emotional. The team all looked at each other, in agreement for what was happening next. One of their own had been hurt. They sure as hell wasn't gonna let that stand. "I understand, Nathan. I want to help Bonanno as well. But we can't do that if we get arrested. Do you understand?" Kaira told Nate. Nate nodded his head in agreement and understanding.</p><p>Eliot leaned a bit forward, Kaira's hand on his back, keeping both of them calm. "What are Bonanno's active files?" Eliot asked Hardison. Hardison pulled up the files and stood up as Nate recovered. "According to the state police database, Bonanno had half a dozen open cases. the most recent one was a protection racket out of Arcadia, but the cops were focusing on an auto-theft ring out of Waynesboro. Let's just say, if you jacked a car in Massachusetts in the last year, your head's gonna be bouncing off a cruiser by dinnertime." Hardison informed the team. Kaira noticed a case file that barely had anything in it. Nate noticed it too. "What's that one?" Nate asked, pointing to the file. "That's public corruption. There's practically no files on that thing." Hardison said. "That's it." Nate said. "No, no, these other two files - they - they involve violent criminals." Hardison started as he went to sit back down and Nate went to the screens. "This one - this - it's government corruption." Hardison tried to argue, but Nate wasn't having it. "No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. That's it. That's it. Just... check the shooting. Put up the scene." Nate ordered Hardison. Hardison did pull up the scene. "Okay, so, Bonanno - he goes to a remote location, alone, no backup. That means he knows his attackers and he's not expecting any trouble. Now, what did you just say? You said no files on it? So, Bonanno was keeping this investigation off the books." Nate pointed out, filling in the blanks. "Explains the secret meeting." Tara said. "And why he was investigating off hours. No witnesses." Kaira pointed out. "Cops are looking in the wrong place." Eliot said, summing everything up. "Absolutely. So, I mean, that leaves - that leaves us." Nate said, showing there were no other options. "So, who's the bad guy?" Parker asked. Hardison's computer started beeping. "Or - or - and - and I'm just spitballing here, we could just let the state cops handle this one, call in an anonymous tip." Hardison said, giving a much less risky option. "Come on, Hardison. I mean, how bad could this be?" Nate asked Hardison. "Famous last words." Kaira muttered under her breath. The team did some digging, seeing who the possible suspect of the shooting.</p><p>The next day, they found their suspect. A local mayor, of all people. Nate and Tara went to a fundraiser the mayor was having, and Hardison and Eliot went to investigate Bonanno's house, looking for his notes, and Parker and Kaira went to the office. "A mayor - surrounded by security, the press, probably has half the local cops on his own private payroll. Piece of cake." Tara said through the comms. "Explains why Bonanno kept his investigation a secret." Nate said, quietly through the comm. "Not secret enough." Tara said. It went silent for a moment before clapping was heard. "So, what's our angle here? I haven't been with you guys very long, but taking someone down for attempted murder isn't something you normally do." Tara said, wondering what the con was. "Listen, we come at him like any other mark. We flip over a rock in this guy's backyard, see what jumps out." Nate said, giving the idea. "And how exactly are we flipping this rock over?" Tara asked. "Ah, we crawl under there with him. Look, the guy's third-generation corrupt mayor, so I know he's rotten, but guys, you know, everything's a good guess here until you get me some good intel. Where are you?" Nate said, getting grumpy without the information. "Yeah, we're heading in now." Eliot reported to Nate. "You spend your weekends making these things, don't you?" Eliot asked Hardison, unamused as they started getting ready. "Yes, I do, and does anybody appreciate that?" Hardison said. "I do. I like the costumes. I wish I was there." Parker said through comms. "I do too." Kaira smiled with Parker beside her at the bridge ledge. "Parker, we need someone to sweep the mayor's office while he's here at the fundraiser." Nate said, signaling for Parker and Kaira to go. "Fine. But I never get to do anything fun." Parker said. Kaira double-checked her rig, identical to Parkers, and took a breath and took the leap. Kaira loved jumping off the buildings, though it had been a while since she had. Parker and Kaira soon arrived at the window and unhooked themselves and crawled through the door. "Nate, we're in." Parker reported. "All right, Parker, Kaira, get those files." Nate ordered.</p><p>Parker went to the computer and pulled out the USB to look at the files as Hardison and Eliot got into the house and Nate and Tara set a meeting. Kaira was scanning for a safe in case there was any hard copies of the files. Soon, however, Parker and Kaira ran into a problem. Some lady was at the door. "Someone's coming." Parker reported to Nate and Kaira. Tara excused herself. "You can handle this. Just feed them a story." Tara said. "No, I can't do that. I mean, I can, but Sophie usually walks me through this." Parker said. "Tara, mind if I handle this one?" Kaira asked, looking at Parker. "Fine by me. Parker, just take a deep breath, and listen to Kaira." Tara said before going back to talking with the mayor, Brad Culpepper the Third. "Okay, Parker, follow my lead." Kaira whispered to Parker as Parker sat on the chair and Kaira on the table. The secretary came in. "Who are you?" The secretary asked the duo. "Virginia Dunn, private investigator. This is Peggy Marwood, another private investigator." Kaira said, introducing herself and Parker as she pulled out a private investigator badge from the pocket of her jacket. "What are you doing here?" The secretary asked. "I thought I had an appointment to ask the mayor some questions, but he never answered me. I guess he doesn't want to talk, huh Peggy." Kaira had gotten up and turned to Parker. "Yes, very suspicious." Parker said, not really selling the bit. "Either way, if you could just give us a moment to talk, I'm sure we'd be out of here in a moment." Kaira said as Parker nodded. "All right, just make sure everything is in order before you leave." The secretary said before leaving. Kaira breathed out once the door shut. "Thanks. I owe you one." Parker said to Kaira. "It's okay, Parker. Let's get back to work." Kaira said.</p><p>Parker and Kaira found some files shortly after investigating some more. Kaia heard Hardison start talking to Eliot, so she tuned in. "Hey. What you got?" Hardison asked Eliot. "Looks like his investigation notes... from this month." Eliot started explaining before the poor cop at the scene interrupted. Kaira tried not to chuckle as Hardison sent him away. Eliot soon resumed his report. "Looks like he was investigating a company called Kirsch Industries." Eliot reported. "Ah, seems like Bonanno found out that for the past couple of years, Kirsch has been buying up property on the waterfront." Hardison reported. Eliot went silent for a second. "What do you think this is?" Eliot asked Hardison. "No idea." Eliot said. Then Parker found a file and was reading it. "Found a file in the mayor's office for Kirsch Industries." Parker started reporting as Kaira walked over to look at the file. "It's incorporated in the Cayman Islands." Parker finished reporting. "The only industry in the Caymans is scuba diving and tax evasion." Hardison said. "So, we're all in agreement that it's a front company for the mayor." Kaira said. "Mayor did say he wanted to build a park on the waterfront. So, city buys land from Kirsch Industries, and the mayor cashes in." Hardison said. "Parker, Kaira, what else you got?" Eliot asked Parker and Kaira. Parker and Kaira looked at all the baseball memorabilia in the office. "I scanned for a safe some, but not the shelves here as they're littered with baseball stuff. It'll take too long to move." Kaira reported. "You could start a baseball team with all the crap he has in his office." Parker said. Kaira heard Nate brush off Culpepper and walk away. Kaira wondered what he was doing. "What are you doing? He was primed. Could've used the Esplanade." Tara questioned, wondering what Nate was thinking. "No, listen, I got something much bigger in mind, something he won't be able to refuse. Okay, guys, wrap it up. We're gonna go on a little field trip." Nate said. Kaira just went along with it, though she was wondering what Nate had in mind. Parker and Kaira left the office out the window and met at a ballpark.</p><p>Soon, all of the team was there, minus Nate. They looked out onto the field, wondering what it had to do with what Nate was thinking. "I don't know. Culpepper doesn't strike me as the type to order a hit, especially on something like a graft case. What's the big deal, you know? You get caught, you go on tv with your wife, you cry, you get re-elected." Tara said, turning around and looking at the team. "Yeah, it's the American way." Parker said. "Exactly." Tara said, agreeing. "This guys been caught in the middle of a dozen corruption cases. Each time, he's walked away and somebody else took the fall. This guy does not get caught." Hardison said. "I don't know. It still doesn't feel right." Tara said. "Yeah." Kaira said, not being able to shake the feeling she had since they started this job. "Maybe Bonanno got too close to an associate of Culpepper's and the associate decided to order the hit on him. I mean, Kirsch Industries is a front for something." Kaira said, giving a possible explanation. "I buy it." Hardison agreed. The rest of the team did too. Kaira saw Eliot looking at a piece of paper. "Babe, what is that?" Kaira asked her husband. "It's a page I found in Bonanno's notebook." Eliot said. It had Kirsch Industries on it, then underneath in black ink "Maltese Falcon". "Maltese Falcon? The book or the movie?" Tara asked. "It means something. I just -" Eliot was about to explain when Nate finally showed. "Okay, this is how we're gonna take down the mayor." Nate said as if the plan was obvious. The team seemed confused. "Baseball?" Hardison questioned. "Nate, usually I can figure out your plans, but I'm not gonna lie, I am clueless. What's the plan here?" Kaira said, confused as to the plan. "Yeah, we're gonna steal his ballpark. Mm-hmm." Nate said, proud of himself. He walked away a couple of steps, then shot back to the team. "And then the team. Not necessarily in that order." Nate said, walking away again, not revealing the plan really. "He pisses me off when he does that." Kaira said, kinda annoyed at Nate as the team went to follow him.</p><p>The next day, they got Nate's plan in motion. The plan was for Nate and Tara left to go to the waterfront and take a bunch of pictures at the waterfront to get Culpepper's attention, and Eliot would infiltrate the baseball team as a spy for the owner, hoping to start some rumors so Culpepper thought Nate was stealing a baseball team. Earlier in the day, Hardison had Eliot in the living room to explain his cover. Kaira stood next to Eliot as Hardison was at the screen. "You got drafted in the sixth round right out of high school. Had a cup of coffee in the Royals organization. Then you bounced around the minors, you bounced around the world, and, as we can see here, you made a very popular commercial for an energy drink in Japan." Hardison said, explaining to Eliot the cover. He pulled up the video. Hardison had dubbed Eliot in a baseball uniform speaking Japanese, selling the energy drink and weird color swirl effects. Kaira tried to not laugh as Eliot seemed annoyed at the commercial. "It took me 13 hours." Hardison said. "There's only one problem. I don't like baseball." Eliot said. Kaira looked at Eliot. "What? Babe, I thought you did?" Kaira questioned Eliot. "What? Everybody likes baseball." Hardison said. "I don't like baseball, man. All right? I don't like any sport you can't score on defense. Football, hockey, even basketball, but baseball?" Eliot said. "I'm not even talking to you." Hardison said. "It's boring." Eliot said as Hardison went to walk away. "Hey, wait. Can you play the commercial?" Eliot asked Hardison. He clicked his remote and played the commercial again as Kaira laughed at Eliot's amusement with the commercial. "Why did I marry you again?" Kaira chuckled in amusement. Eliot turned to look at Kaira. "Oh, my southern charm and rattlesnake smile." Eliot said, also chuckling. "You're still a dork, Eliot." Kaira smiled at Eliot. He smiled back at her. "Well, tough, cause I'm your dork, forever and always." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled at her husband. "I really want to kiss you right now, but I don't know if Hardison or anyone else is watching." Eliot said, leaning close to Kaira. "So? Kiss me." Kaira said, not caring. Eliot smiled and pulled Kaira into a kiss. Then she heard a voice. "Y'all nasty!" Hardison yelled from across the room. Kaira and Eliot laughed. "You're just jealous!" Kaira yelled back at Hardison. "Dammit Hardison! You had to ruin the moment I was having with my wife." Eliot said, annoyed, and looked like he was about to beat Hardison's ass. Kaira sensed this. "Hardison, you may want to hide, cause in three seconds, Eliot's gonna kick your ass." Kaira called out, causing Eliot to storm off and find Hardison, as all Kaira heard, was, "Oh, hell no!" from Hardison. Kaira ended up breaking them up and sent Eliot to the ballpark to cool off and get started as Nate and Tara were already at the waterfront, taking pictures at the waterfront, according to plan. As Nate, Tara, and Eliot went to do their part of the con, Hardison, Parker, and Kaira started calling the local radio station to further the rumors of the team leaving.</p><p>Later in the day, before the game, Parker and Hardison acted as protesters of the team's rumored departure and Kaira sat right behind the catcher mound to watch Eliot as Nate and Tara buttered up the owner of the team and Culpepper. Eliot dealt with the team wanting an explanation for the rumors. Nate met with Culpepper to get the bribe set up for the Hook, Pinch, and Flip con he was doing. Then Nate wanted Eliot to meet them, but he couldn't as he was playing. Nate had the team meet them out in the gates of the park. Kaira, Hardison, and Parker walked with Nate and Tara through the turnstiles. "All right, good news, bad news." Nate said. "Good news?" Tara questioned. "The mayors hooked. We're in the pinch." Nate said. "Bad news?" Karia asked. "I think we lost your husband till the payoffs." Nate said. Kaira groaned at the realization.</p><p>The team met back up at the bar and sat down to discuss next steps. "Now, when the mayor gives us the check, the money is from his re-election campaign." Hardison explained at Eliot arrived. Kaira smiled at Eliot. "You left early, man. Huh? Bottom of the ninth." Eliot said, not happy he was left behind. "I'm sorry, babe! I know you did awesome." Kaira smiled at Eliot, apologetic. Eliot seemed to forgive her. "Excuse your rudeness. I'm explaining the con. It's very complicated." Hardison said, not happy with Eliot bursting in like he did. "Really? The mayor gives us a check, and we deposit it in some company you connected back to him. Looks like he's embezzling from his campaign funds." Eliot said, fake gasping in shock. Kaira was impressed. "Bottom of the ninth, man. I hit a walk-off single, man. Crowd goes nuts." Eliot said as Kaira kept looking at Eliot, though Eliot didn't notice. "But that's - that's not all there is, okay? We got - there's - there's the Bonanno thing." Hardison said. "What? We give Bonanno's notes to the newspaper, man? They named a sandwich after me at T.J Philbin's." Eliot said, getting annoyed. The team seemed impressed. Eliot just then noticed Kaira's face. "Sweetheart, why are you looking at me like that?" Eliot asked Kaira. Kaira stood up. "Because you're really hot when you use that brain of yours and get excited over something." Kaira smiled at Eliot. The team ignored the couple. "I'll give it to you, man. The sandwich thing is pretty cool." Hardison said as Eliot and Hardison started their handshake. "Is this a hoagie?" Hardison asked as they finished the handshake and Nate's phone rang. "No, man, it's a reuben." Eliot said. Kaira was impressed. "Sorry, this is the mayor. Is - Is - Is it an okay time to take this call, or...?" Nate said, fed up with Eliot. "Yeah. Go ahead." Eliot said, equally as fed up. "Good. Congrats on the sandwich." Nate said as he answered the phone and moved to another table as the team talked.</p><p>Soon, Nate returned very shortly and gave Hardison the piece of paper he wrote on. "Here, look it up." Nate ordered Hardison. Hardison pushed some buttons on his phone and had some intel. "Okay, the address is right in the middle of the Belbridge waterfront." Hardison informed the team. "It's a walk-away." Eliot realized. "This not good, Nathan." Kaira pointed out, not liking the situation. "No, look, this is even better, cause he has partners, so, this is our chance to bring them down, too." Nate said. "Nathan, no. We are not doing this again." Kaira said. "But if the bribe is in cash, the con doesn't work." Parker realized. "250,000 dollars in cash we're gonna get - that had to have come from somewhere. Hardison can track it." Nate said, thinking of a new plan. "Uh, no, Hardison cannot." Hardison said, not liking the plan. "All right, look, you keep saying that you don't think the mayors the kind of guy to kill a cop, right?" Nate said. "So, let's go meet the kind of guys who kill cops on the waterfront. That's a solid plan." Tara said, not liking the plan. "I'm sorry. Where are these partners coming from, huh? And why'd they just show up?" Eliot asked, showing that they needed more info. "The "Maltese Falcon" thing - I mean, it's just weird." Parker said before Nate cut her off. "Okay, enough!" Nate yelled to quiet the team. "We're talking about bringing down a corrupt mayor and cleaning up a city. I mean, it's huge. It's probably the biggest thing we've ever done." Nate said, trying to sell the idea. "They're not handing out trophies for this." Eliot said. "We don't do this for the glory, Nathan. We do this to help people, and I won't let you put this team and my husband at risk." Kaira said, showing her distaste. "We don't always win, man." Hardison argued. "Yeah, but we never quit." Nate said, still trying to get the team on board. Kaira exhaled. She wasn't changing his mind. If only Sophie was here to set him straight. "Okay, so, look, you - you guys - you guys check out the security. You do the perimeter, yeah? And we'll be on the inside. Look, we're gonna do this. We can do it. We're gonna bring this guy down." Nate said, assigning the roles and getting the team ready. He got up and left.</p><p>Soon, the team was getting covers in order and met the next day at the waterfront meet up. Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira were tasked with checking out the security, Parker was checking the perimeter, and Nate and Tara were going to do the meetup. Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison got out of the van and flashed Homeland Security badges at the two men at the gate. Hardison cleared his throat, getting their attention. "Homeland Security." Hardison said, showing his badge. "This is a surprise inspection." Kaira said, sounding professional. "Nobody called us." The one guard said as Hardison walked in the gate as Eliot and Kaira stood back. "Yeah, well, that's cause it has nothing to do with you." Eliot said as he flipped through the pages in a clipboard. "We're here to inspect the gate mounted x-ray imaging system." Kaira said. "Was installed with the federal anti-terrorism money. We're just checking it out." Hardison said. "Can you give us five minutes and some space, please?" Kaira asked the guards, smiling, as Hardison pushed them out and Eliot and Kaira walked in. "Oh, no. We really shouldn't leave, so..." The guard said. He seemed to recognize Eliot. "Hey, aren't you Roy Chappell?" The guard asked Eliot. Eliot and Hardison looked at each other as Kaira smiled. Eliot seemed to like the attention, but Hardison didn't. "Yeah, you hit the game-winner yesterday for the Beavers. I was there with my kid." The guard said. "I did." Eliot said, proud of himself. "What are you doing here?" The guard asked Eliot. "Well, it's triple-A ball, so I got to have a day job, you know?" Eliot said. "Yeah, and it doesn't hurt to have a little husband and wife bonding on the job, huh?" Kaira said, smiling as he leaned on Eliot, putting her left hand on his chest, flashing her wedding band. Eliot chuckled and went to shut the door. "Excuse me. Sorry." Eliot said, shutting the door. The guard moved to the window and placed his clipboard on the window seal. "Oh, hey, Roy? You mind? It's for my kid." The guard said, handing Eliot the pen. Eliot started laughing as Kaira let go and Eliot signed the paper. "No, I don't mind, man." Eliot said as he signed the page. He handed the pen and paper back to the guard. "All right. Thanks, Roy." The guard said, leaving as Eliot had the biggest smile on his face walking to Hardison as Kaira chuckled. "Who are you right now?" Hardison asked Eliot, unamused. "Hey, man, what do you want me to do? Huh?" Eliot questioned Hardison as he still smiled. "Seriously?" Hardison questioned as Eliot pretended to use the clipboard as a bat, smacking his lips. "Like a role model." Eliot said, pleased with himself. "Seriously?" Hardison questioned again. "What? It's not my fault." Eliot said. "Man, just put the taps on the video feeds." Hardison told Eliot.</p><p>Eliot went to do that, but then Hardison stopped him, getting nervous about something. "W-H-hold - wait." Hardison told Eliot, stopping him. "Hardison, what is it?" Kaira asked the hacker as he looked around a bit. "No, something's not right here, man." Hardison said, worried about something. He pulled out a screwdriver and opened up a black box that was beside him. Nate and Tara had entered and went to do the meet. Then Parker reported in. "Nate, I'm under the dock." Parker reported. It was silent for a moment. "Guys with guns." Parker whispered. "What?" Kaira questioned Parker. "They're just walking around like they own the place." Parker reported quietly. It was silent for another moment as Hardison was still trying to look at the black box. "Soybeans." Parker said. She went silent again as Nate and Tara still talked with Culpepper. Hardison got the panel open. The electronics inside were off. "That's a list of all the security upgrades they installed with the federal money, right?" Hardison asked the couple as Eliot flipped through the pages. "Yeah." Eliot confirmed. "How much did they spend?" Hardison asked. "20 million dollars. And I'm no expert, but that don't look like no x-ray imaging system to me." Kaira reported, getting anxious as well. Something was indeed off. "No, it's what the inside on an easy-bake oven looks like." Hardison said. He glanced at the papers again. "Infrared? There's no infrared feed on these cameras. And 24-hour surveillance? The cameras are rolling but that drive is not big enough to record more than a day." Hardison said, looking at the camera feeds. "Hell, this is the least secure port on the East Coast." Hardison said. He looked at the couple. "So, where'd that 20 million dollars go?" Eliot asked the question they were thinking. Soon, Parker had their answer. "I'm thinking inventory. These beans are made of guns. and hand grenades." Parker reported. Nate and Tara were about to do the blow off before Kaira heard feedback from her comm. The quartet winced at the feedback. "Son of a... what is that?" Eliot asked Hardison, both having their fingers to their ears. "It's feedback. Somebody else is transmitting on high frequency." Hardison said. Nate was heard grabbing Culpepper, scarring him into saying, "Jabberwocky." "That's a code word." Tara said, pissed. Soon, sirens were heard as vans pulled in and people wearing FBI vests showed up to crash the party. "That's FBI. Nate, we got FBI." Eliot reported. "Nathan, Tara, Feds on top of you." Kaira quickly reported as the trio left quickly and met Parker outside the warehouse as FBI was coming in.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira watched the warehouse, then met back at the van with Hardison and Parker. "So, the guy who put out a hit on a police detective is an FBi snitch? That's not fair." Parker said as she tossed Eliot and grabbed herself FBI jackets. Hardison was at his laptop, searching for a cell phone. "That one. Federal I.D cellphone." Hardison said as he dialed the number. The FBI agent picked up. "You come in, and we'll kill all the hostages." Hardison said, buying time for Nate to come up with a plan. "Oh, you thought the mayor was the only one? No, look, we got a whole Sunday school of people up in here. We got old folks, we got nuns, and we've got explosives. You come in, you make headlines." Hardison said, threateningly. He hung up the phone. "Well, now we know why he never went down for any of the other corruption cases. Cause he's a snitch." Tara said, not liking the reveal. "You know, it's possible that, uh, he doesn't know anything about Bonanno getting shot." Nate said, throwing the bait. "Oh, I knew that would come back." Culpepper said. Kaira was instantly pissed off. "What? No. No." Culpepper tried to defend himself. "You did." Nate realized. "I didn't. My FBI handlers, they told me to be very careful because there was a state police investigation, so I told... someone else, okay? But I had nothing to do with it." Culpepper said, defending himself. "He has a kid! He has a son! He almost died! Do you understand he almost died?!" Nate screamed at Culpepper as he was scared, defending himself. "Yeah, Nate, I bought you some time, but right about now, we got a whole army of Five-O coming down on us." Hardison reported to Nate, ignoring the yelling, looking at his computer screen. "It's a big day." Kaira said, not liking the odds. "Big, big day for us." Hardison said, also not liking the odds. "You have to let him go." Tara said. "No!" Nate yelled. "Then kill him now! We have to get out of here." Tara said, not happy. Culpepper about shit his pants as Kaira heard a slam, but no bones breaking, just glass breaking. Nate obviously just scared him. "Okay, we'll deal with him later. Uh... okay, here's what we're gonna do. Come here." Nate said, talking to Tara. "I got a plan. Listen." Nate said. Nate explained the plan as the group outside waited at the van. "No. Nate, are you kidding me, man? That is the worst plan I've ever heard." Hardison said, starting to walk away. The others followed him. "Look, he needs a distraction." Eliot said. "We did just find a box of ammo and explosives. Boom. I'm just saying." Parker said. "Yeah, but we need to deliver it." Kaira said. "And a detonator." Hardison said. Kaira realized a solution. Eliot, Parker, and Kaira turned to the van behind them. Hardison turned around and caught onto the plan. "No. Mnh-mnh." Hardison declined the idea. He kept declining, shaking his head no and showing he didn't like it. "Look, mnh-mnh. Not Lucille. Not Lucille! She all I got left." Hardison said, as the team turned back around. "Don't you do it to me. Get that look out of your eye. You ain't got to be so happy about it, Eliot. You always had it in for my van. You always had it in for Lucille. You said she smells. She don't stink. It's just... and odor." Hardison said, whining and sad as the others went to set the bomb up.</p><p>Hardison got the van rigged up to remote control and came to the back of the van. "Sorry, Lucille. I love you, baby. I ain't gonna forget you." Hardison said, nearly bumping into Eliot as e was putting the box of grenades in. "Dude, grenades!" Eliot growled at Hardison. "Dude, the van!" Hardison said. Kaira groaned. "Hardison, enough. We'll get you another van." Kaira said to Hardison as she helped Parker with the rigging. "You know she out of warranty, right?" Hardison asked as Parker and Eliot shut the door. Kaira patted the van, feeling bad for Hardison as the group walked away to get to some cover. "You ready?" Nate asked Tara. "Ready." Tara said. Nate called the FBI handler and told her a hostage was coming out. Kaira watched as Hardison guided Lucille to the warehouse. "I've always been and forever shall be your friend." Hardison said, as Kaira pulled him behind cover as the van exploded. "I will never forget you." Hardison said to himself. Eliot and Parker drove the handler's FBI vehicle and grabbed Nate and Tara. They soon arrived and Kaira got in beside Parker. Hardison was still pouting, leaning against the bean stacked up. "Come on, Hardison." Kaira said, wanting to move. "No!" Hardison said, sounding like a toddler. "Hardison!" Nate exclaimed at Hardison. "No, y-you ignored us. You screwed up. You. And you killed Lucille." Hardison said, not happy. "Listen. Priorities, please. You know, we'll go somewhere safe. You can bitch me out all you want. Get in." Nate argued, all but bribing Hardison to get in. The rest of the team yelled at Hardison to get in. "Hardison, you sound like a toddler! Do I have to get out and drag your ass in here?" Kaira threatened Hardison. Hardison then walked to the car. "Kiss my ass." Hardison said to Nate as he got in and then drove off. They were officially on the run and with both the FBI and local police on the hunt for them. And little did the team know at the moment, an old enemy was also on their heels. That enemy was James Sterling.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! So, as I feel bad for teasing you all in the last chapter about a top 10 list, and since the next chapter is the last chapter for this season, in the next chapter, I will reveal my top 10 list for Leverage episodes! I also have another treat for you guys, cause I'm feeling generous. I am going to show you all a short film I was in for a competition where I live. There was a challenge to make a short film in the entire month of October. So, here is the video link. </p><p>  https://youtu.be/dEZNnL5dLhY </p><p>I hope you liked this short film! Thank you all for watching and reading! Remember to vote and share this story with your friends! Much love to you all! Stay Safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. The Maltese Falcon Job (2x15)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With no safehouse, no plan, no backup, and on the run, the band of thieves are on the run after realizing the mayor they targeted for the shooting of cop ally Bonanno is a snitch, and are in the crosshairs of Home Security, FBI, and, as they are soon to figure out, Sterling. With a shocking surprise in store, will the team be the same?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I'm super excited to share this chapter with you all. This is the last chapter of season 2, so as I said in the last chapter, I will be sharing my full top 10 favorite Leverage episodes list at the end of this chapter, so I hope you're ready! This is going to be an interesting episode! Without further adieu, here is episode 15 of season 2!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eliot drove the team under a bridge to ditch the car as Hardison kept a lookout on the aliases used during the mission and on any activity to help them out. Eliot pulled to the side and put the car in park and turned the engine off. The team got out. "The mayor's a federal witness? Federal?" Eliot questioned, not happy their covers were blown. "Every badge in a hundred miles is looking for us." Tara reported as the team grouped up. Hardison's phone dinged. "Guys, they are ripping through Nate and Tara's cover stories. All their financials are blown, so, look, until I know what they know, no credit cards, no debit cards, no ATM's, Nothing that can be traced back to us, okay? Cash in hand only." Hardison said, letting the team know how screwed they are. "Son of a bitch! Keeps getting better and better." Kaira exclaimed, upset as she started digging in her pockets to see what cash she had on her. "I got about 150." Kaira said, showing the cash to the team. The team looked at her, not knowing what to make of their jack of trades. "I've had a feeling since this job started something would go wrong." Kaira said, defending herself, putting the money back in her pocket. "Look, the mayor's not innocent. He cut a deal with the Feds because he's guilty. And he's got somebody working on the outside." Nate said. "Back at the warehouse, he admitted he has an accomplice." Tara said. "All right. Do we scatter or stay?" Eliot asked, wondering what the next move was. "No, we scatter, we give the mayor and his partner time to cover their tracks to get away with murder, literally." Nate said. "Yeah, well, we can't get anything done out here on the street. We need a hiding place." Parker pointed out. "And a plan." Kaira pointed out. "Guys, look, when I contacted the FBI team leader, I put a worm in the operating system in the sim card on her phone -" Hardison said, about to spiral. "Hardison, geek spiral." Eliot pointed out, not having it at the moment. "We can listen to what they say. Look." Hardison said, holding the phone in the middle and pressing a button. "No, not a safe house. Interpol wants Culpepper someplace off our system. We're taking him to the governor hotel." Agent Nevins said on the phone. Hardison turned the recording off. "Okay, that's it. That's where we're gonna hole up." Nate said. "The - The Governor Hotel?" Tara questioned. "Yeah." Nate confirmed the plan. "The hotel crawling with FBI?" Tara questioned. "FBI and Interpol, mind you." Kaira pointed out, not liking the plan. "Hey, you know, it's the one place in Boston they won't be looking for us. Come on. We just got to get there first." Nate said, getting in the car as the team sighed, going to get in.</p><p>They soon arrived at the hotel where the mayor was being held and managed to sneak in. Tara, Parker, Kaira, and Eliot went to the floor where the mayor was going to be held. The group hid in the hallway, spying a worker in a room. They waited till he went into the room and walked into the hallway. "All right. Three, maybe four empty rooms on this floor." Tara pointed out. "I steal that master key, he's gonna notice it's missing pretty fast." Parker pointed out. "All right, Parker or Kaira, I need you to do a lift." Tara said. "She just said -" Eliot tried to argue before Tara explained herself. "No, not the key. Just a towel." Tara said. Parker and Kaira walked to get the towel to pass it to Tara. They gave it to her and hid as Tara started stripping. She walked out with a newspaper and wrapped herself in the towel and stood until the guy from earlier came out of the room. "Excuse me." Tara said, getting the guy's attention. "Oh, thank god. I just stepped out to get the paper, and then my door closed behind me, and I tried to find a house phone, but you guys don't have those anymore." Tara said, acting all innocent. Then she dropped the towel. The poor guy was stammering and opened the door for Tara. She walked in and once the guy left, the rest of the team came in.</p><p>When Nate and Hardison came up once Hardison was finished covering their tracks, Tara was still in her towel and the rest of the team was waiting around. Hardison looked uncomfortable as Nate didn't seem to care. "Did I, uh, miss something?" Nate asked. "She was naked." Parker said as Kaira just shrugged her shoulders, wanting to ignore what she saw. Nate looked back at Tara and she smiled as she went into the bathroom to change again as Eliot and Kaira stood together, Kaira leaning on Eliot, who held her waist as the other team members sat on the bed. "In room checkout. Okay, look, this means I have access to the hotel's billing computers. It's a big old backdoor into every hotel room in America. As of right now, we have been here for a week, and our reservations are good for another week, courtesy of this man's platinum card, Mr... Ogden Shields, who has spent a lot of time in the adult section of pay-per-view. I mean, did he even leave the room?" Hardison said before Kaira groaned. "Hardison, that is just nasty, so please, for all of our sakes, move on to something else that's relevant." Kaira said, disgusted. She caught Nate holding a glass of liquor. Kaira knew it wasn't the time to start anything with Nate. "Hardison, I need background on all the mayor's business partners and all his little shell companies." Nate ordered, taking another sip of his drink. "You want background checks on this, a tv?" Hardison questioned. "Yeah." Nate said, not sure of the problem. "Yeah, I'll have Super Mario and Dig Dug get right on that." Hardison said. "Guns - anything having to do with guns." Nate ordered, leaving to go watch the lobby. "All right, I'm gonna go get some keys made. I'm going to the gym. Make sure I can charge stuff on the room." Eliot said, also leaving. "I got you." Hardison said as Kaira heard the adult movie that was playing. "I'm going with Eliot. Just, don't blacklight the damn place." Kaira groaned as she left with Eliot.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira changed into workout gear and Parker lifted a card and gave it to Eliot. Eliot and Kaira walked hand in hand to the counter. "Hello. We were down in the gym." Eliot said before the greeter spoke. "Ah, the fitness spa. Isn't the zen steam garden divine?" The greeter said, almost getting a review of the place. "Well, I mean, he mostly watched me the whole time. He likes to watch." Kaira said quietly, acting like she was teasing Eliot, making the greeter slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah... delicious. Listen. We were down in the gym, and I went back up to the room, and my - my key didn't work." Eliot said. "Oh, no problem. Do you have any I.D?" The greeter asked. "Who carries their I.D to the gym, bro?" Eliot said to the guy. "True." The greeter acknowledged. "Listen - Ogden Shields, room 1104." Eliot said. The greeter typed on his computer. "Here you go, Mr. Shields. Let me reformat that card for you." The greeter said. He went back to reformat the key and soon, Nate came on comms. "Parker, Eliot, Kaira, meet me outside. Tara, Hardison, stay in your room. Door closed." Nate ordered. "Why?" Hardison asked. "Sterling." Nate said. Kaira groaned at the development. Of course, if things weren't bad enough, now Sterling is back. Eliot and Kaira grabbed the key and changed, and met Nate and Parker outside.</p><p>"All right, guys, this is Tony Kadjic. He started out as a smuggler in Albania. He left a lot of competitors in shallow graves. He's been indicted for murder eight times in four different countries with zero convictions." Hardison informed the team. "His shipping company looks semi-legit and is tied to governments in the 'stans, Central America. It's got a batch of big government contracts, including some for U.S Security forces." Tara continued filling in. "Why do we care about him?" Nate asked. "Cause he's big in the surplus-weapons market." Hardison said. Eliot scoffed. "It's just a polite way of saying arms dealer." Eliot pointed out. "His specialty is buying cheap guns from third-world countries and reselling them." Tara said. "Okay, well, you know, I mean, this tracks. So, the mayor grifts the 9/11 money that's meant to improve security at the ports. That, along with crooked cops, makes the Belbridge port a perfect place for Tony Kadjic to run his guns in and out of the country." Nate realized. "Interpol must be chasing down the gunrunning." Parker said. "Don't worry about Sterling." Nate said. Kaira and Eliot looked at Nate like he was crazy. "Nathan, the man's like a shark. He has our scent and will track us down." Kaira pointed out, not happy. "Did you just say don't worry about Sterling?" Eliot questioned Nate. "Yeah, don't worry about Sterling. What, you don't think I can beat Sterling?" Nate questioned the couple. "I think in the last six months, Nate, I've heard you talk about beating the Triads, beating the Russians, all right? Maggie's boyfriend - huh? How'd that work out? We all said that meet was a bad idea, all right? But you got a taste for taking down this mayor, and you can't resist." Eliot said. Kaira showed she agreed. Nate had been erratic lately with the jobs, and it was putting the team in unnecessary danger. "You want to walk away, walk away. Walk away." Nate said to the couple. "Not walking away. That's not our job. Our job is to get your back." Eliot started arguing over stop of Nate. "Nathan, we're gonna do our jobs all the way. But I need you to do your job." Kaira told Nate, showing she wasn't happy. "And what's that?" Nate asked Kaira. "Be Nathan Ford. Be the person we came back for." Parker said, unexpectedly. Nate, Eliot, and Kaira looked at Parker. "Listen, guys. I'm trying to figure out why a group of very rich, very powerful men are trying to take out a good, decent cop. Now, are you gonna stick with me on this? Is that enough?" Nate said to the team. "Yeah." Eliot said. Parker shook her head yes. "For me, hell yes. For you?" Kaira said, swallowing her pride a bit. "Us too." Hardison said. "Good. Tony Kadjic is the one who pulled the trigger. I want to know exactly what he's up to and where he is." Nate explained. "And how do you propose we do that?" Hardison asked. "Let's go steal a mayor." Nate said, walking away. Parker, Eliot, and Kaira followed him.</p><p>Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison went into the room to clear out for the time being, and Parker went to act like housekeeping. "That's still bugging me, man." Eliot said, looking at the paper from Bonannos notes again, still pondering what it meant. "Me too, babe." Kaira looked at Eliot, packing a suitcase up. "You guys on the move?" Nate asked from the lobby. "We're heading out now." Kaira said. "And the mayor?" Nate questioned. "According to the room-service charges, looks like the mayor's taking the edge off of captivity with many, many tiny bottles of vodka." Hardison said, getting is bag over is shoulder and leaving as Eliot and Kaira put the suitcase on the cart. "He's gonna have one hell of a hangover later." Kaira smiled, lightening the mood a bit. Parker started her run to give the mayor drugged vodka bottles, acting as a French housekeeper. "Oh, great. Look who's back." Nate said. "You help Tara and Parker. I'm gonna stall Sterling." Nate said, talking to Hardison. "How?" Hardison asked. "I'm thinking." Nate said. Kaira heard him starting to breathe heavily, and she realized his plan. Nate was running up the steps, pressing the up button on every elevator until he reached the floor the mayor was on. Meanwhile, Tara, Parker, and Hardison moved the mayor to their room. Hardison had struggled with the harness and Tara offered to help him. He declined. When Sterling came out of the elevator, Kaira put her hood up, and Eliot moved his face to hide it from Sterling as the couple pushed the cart into the elevator. They took it out to a taxi and let it drive away, making Sterling think the mayor was in it. Eliot and Kaira walked up to the room they were in and watched Sterling on the tv order the agents to presumably track down the taxi.</p><p>"Where's the luggage going?" Nate asked. "Nashua, New Hampshire." Eliot said. The rest of the team set the room so it looked like the mayors room. "Okay, just like the picture - make sure it looks exactly like his room." Nate said. Kaira stood beside Nate as Eliot went out with Parker and Tara. Nate lightly smacked the mayor's face, waking him up. The mayor was startled. "Your honor." Nate said. "Get the chair." Kaira ordered Hardison. Nate grabbed the mayor and passed him to Hardison, as Kaira moved. The mayor was freaking out. "Where are the agents? Where are the agents? There should be two FBI agents standing at the door." The mayor asked. Just then Eliot walked in, carrying Parker as a housekeeper over his shoulders. "Did you have to?" Nate asked Eliot, acting as if Parker was dead. "She saw our faces." Eliot said, threateningly. "Okay. Put her in the tub with the others." Nate ordered. Eliot walked with Parker in the bathroom. "Is it weird that I'm turned on right now?" Kaira asked Nate, chuckling and smiling creepily as if she enjoyed the sight and what was happening. "Mr. Joshua, please move your ass and work already. We don't have all day." Kaira ordered, acting as if she was second in command. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, please don't kill me." The mayor all but begged as Hardison had rope prepared. "What did you think, huh? A guy that throws around the kind of money I do, that I'm not connected?" Nate questioned the mayor, jumping him. "I-I-I didn't know that-" The mayor tried to defend himself. "What? You didn't know I was backing him? That you could throw my associates to the Feds?" Kaira questioned the mayor, getting in his face. "Look, I-I had to. It was - it was nothing personal. I had to protect -" The mayor once again tried to defend himself. "What?" Nate asked the mayor. Nate clapped his hands and spun the chair around, and Hardison extended the rope, holding it in both hands. "Aah! T-the guns. The guns, the guns. Look, I'll cut you in, okay? It's a sweet deal. The cops are in on the payroll. And the Feds - they - they just turn their heads. It's - It's foolproof." Culpepper said, hoping to get out of his predicament. "How? Huh? How do the Feds look the other way?" Nate questioned Culpepper, getting in his face. "I wear a wire, okay? I help the FBI get other mayors and congressmen, and they - they don't bother with Tony's shipping business. Okay? So Tony said to give them you, okay, to give you to the Feds, okay, and then - then the heat would be off. Mr. Gitt, it was - it was just business, okay?" Culpepper explained the deal with the Feds and Tony. "Yeah, just business, yeah okay. I'd like to meet Tony." Nate said, still in Culpepper's face. "Well... I don't - I don't know where he is, okay? I'll get him on the phone. I can get him on the phone for you. If you'd like me to get him on the phone, I can do that." Culpepper made the offer before Nate acknowledged it and turned the chair back towards Hardison. "Okay, all right, all right, all right." Culpepper gave in, turning towards Nate and Kaira. "All right. He's here. Okay?" Culpepper said. "Where? Where is he?" Kaira asked Culpepper, getting in his face. "He's down at the docks, okay? He's on the boat. We just got a shipment in. And we've got some buyers who are inspecting the guns." Culpepper finally gave up everything. "Thank you very much." Nate said, giving the mayor some relief. "See, that wasn't so difficult, was it?" Nate said before snapping his fingers at Eliot. Before Eliot came over and punched the mayor, knocking him out. "Don't hold back or nothing, babe." Kaira smiled at Eliot, breaking the cover she was in.</p><p>Tara then walked in. "All right, FBI's cleared the building." Tara reported. Parker walked back out and joined the others. "So, we kidnapped a mayor. I hope you realize that even if we pull this off, we're gonna get out of the city with nothing but the clothes on our backs." Tara pointed out, making sure the team knew the stakes. "Yeah, okay, so, Kadjic has a shipment at the docks. Hardison, stash the mayor somewhere else and see what you can dig up." Nate ordered. "If I can access the security cameras at the port, maybe facial recognition can find Kadjic." Hardison said. "Yeah. Eliot, Kaira, Parker, Tara, do a physical sweep of the docks." Nate ordered. He stood a moment before walking away. "Where are you going?" Eliot asked Nate. Nate ignored him and just left, closing the door behind him. "Where's he going?" Eliot asked Tara. and Kaira. She didn't say anything and just left, and the team went to do their tasks.</p><p>Eliot, Parker, and Kaira walked along the docks, trying to find the boat that was mentioned by the mayor. So far, they had struck empty. They walked to one last part of the dock. "This is hopeless. And it smells." Parker complained as the trio kept walking. "How many ships left on the list?" Eliot asked Parker. "Only a hundred." Parker said. "Sweet." Eliot reported as Kaira groaned. "Yeah." Parker said. They joined up with Tara. "This is hopeless." Tara said. "And it smells." Parker repeated to Tara. "Yes, like old clown shoes." Tara said, not liking where they were at. "Briny despair." Parker said. "Smells like New York Harbor to me." Kaira pointed out, reminiscing of the memories she had at the harbor with her uncle. "Well, maybe Hardison - Hey." Eliot was about to say before finding something. "What is it babe?" Kaira asked Eliot. "He's Italian." Eliot said. "Huh?" Tara questioned as Eliot pulled out the paper from before. "Bonanno's Italian." Eliot said before walking off with Kaira in tow as she realized what he meant. "Oh, so now they're walking off?" Tara questioned. "Yep." Parker said. "Slow down, Sparky." Parker called out to the couple. Kaira realized that with Bonanno being Italian, instead of writing down the original name, he put down the translation of the boat name. Soon, however, they got a call from Hardison, saying to meet back at the apartment./p<br/>p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nate sat on the steps, not looking too hot as the team sat on the couches while Nate explained his plan. "Is it possible?" Nate asked the team. "I'll need Eliot and Kaira and to buy some new supplies and maybe five hours. Plus I need to hack into the cargo-shipping system at the docks." Hardison said. "What about the money?" Nate asked. "It's on short notice, but -" Hardison said before Nate cut him off. "Use my accounts." Nate said. "Nathan, that'll clean you out." Kaira pointed out, unsure of this plan. "Use them. And what about you guys on your end?" Nate said. Kaira had a feeling something was wrong. She hated that feeling. Parker stood up and walked to the other couch. "I don't think we can make it in through the main entrance, so I think we need to go up and then make it down through from the roof." Parker explained. "But you can do it." Nate wanted to confirm. "Sure. It's not our part of the scam that's impossible." Tara pointed out, looking at Nate. "No, it's everything else." Parker pointed out. "Yeah, definitely that, but our part, no." Tara said, confirming the go-ahead reluctantly. "All right, well, I'm gonna set up the meet with Kadjic." Nate said. "No, no. I said I knew where the weapons were. I don't know if Kadjic's gonna be there." Eliot pointed out. "Well, then, we're gonna have to lure Kadjic to the weapons. I mean, the whole plan depends on our ability to confirm Kadjic and the weapons being in the same place at the same time." Nate said as he started walking upstairs. The team went silent as Kaira went to leave.</p><p>She needed to get out, as she sensed a panic attack coming. She opened the door to her and Eliot's apartment and just sat on the bed and quietly sobbed. She had a sick feeling that something bad was gonna happen, and there was nothing she could really do to stop in. Then she heard a knock at the bedroom door and Eliot walked in. She felt him sit down at the bed and place his hand on her back. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" Eliot asked his wife. Kaira sat up and calmed down. "I just got this sick feeling, and it won't go away." Kaira explained to her husband, trying to calm down. Eliot held her and it helped calm Kaira down some. "What kind of sick feeling?" Eliot asked. "The kind of feeling you get when a job's about to go wrong." Kaira explained, pursing her lips to keep from crying again. "Hey, that's why we'll be with Nate the whole time. It'll be okay." Eliot said, comforting his scared wife. Then it seemed something clicked in Eliot's mind. "You don't think we're coming back here, are you?" Eliot asked, sensitively. "Yeah. I mean, if Nate goes on this deal, he walks free, and we go down." Kaira said, starting to get emotional again as Eliot still held her, but letting go slightly. "Nate wouldn't let that happen." Eliot said before realizing what Kaira meant. "I know. That's the problem." Kaira said. She stood up and paced. Her phone went off. She wiped her eyes and looked at her phone. It was Hardison, asking where she was and if she was okay and that he needed help to get the plan ready. Eliot already knew. "Clean your face, take a breath, and meet me at Nate's apartment so we can get started." Eliot said, trying not to get emotional himself. Kaira smiled as Eliot stood up and walked over to her. He smiled some and planted a small kiss on her lips. Kaira smiled at her husband. "There she is." Eliot smiled at Kaira, causing Kaira to chuckle. "Thank you." Kaira said. "For what?" Eliot asked. "For being there for me. How did I get so lucky?" Kaira asked as she was about to kiss Eliot again. "I am the lucky one, Princess." Eliot all but whispered to Kaira, also going in for the kiss. Eliot and Kaira chuckled. He left and Kaira went into the bathroom and washed her face and changed her clothes. Once she was calmed down and ready to go, she went back to the apartment and helped Hardison get ready for this plan Nate had. After five hours, and Eliot changing into a grey and black flannel and blue jeans and boots, they were ready.</p><p>Nate, Kaira, and Eliot walked along the marina to find the boat. Eliot put his hair in a half ponytail and kept walking along with Nate and Kaira. "Everybody ready?" Nate asked everyone. "Yeah. But remember, once you're on that ship, all that metal's gonna mess with reception. I won't be able to reach you once you're below decks." Hardison said, reminding the team of the problem. "Okay, we're all set." Tara said, quietly from the FBI offices. "How do you know which one?" Nate asked the couple. "Liberian registry. Italian ship." Eliot pointed out, gesturing to the ship. "Bonanno's Italian." Nate realized. "Exactly - El Falcone Maltese." Eliot said. Kaira smiled a bit. "You have to speak Italian to me more often." Kaira quipped, smiling as she kept walking with Nate and Eliot. They made it aboard and came across two guards. "Ding dong, we're home." Eliot said as the guards turned around and Eliot and Kaira each fought a guard, very easily knocking them both out. Soon, an army of goons revealed themselves, coming from all entry points and pointing guns at the trio, telling them to stay put and not move. "Okay, okay, why don't you tell Tony Kadjic that the guy he sold to the Feds is here to have a little chat with him?" Nate said, revealing the money in the bag. The guys escorted them into the ship. Kaira and Eliot were both muttering as they were being escorted. "What are you doing?" Nate whispered to the couple. "Counting all the guys with guns." Eliot said. "How many?" Nate asked. "A lot." Kaira said quietly.</p><p>They were still being escorted as Tara and Parker made were getting ready to get into the building as Hardison went to scare Kadjic into making a phone call, speaking in a British accent. They were closer to where Kadjic was. "Look, man. We got Kadjic, all right? Let's just call-" Eliot whispered before Nate responded. "No. Not enough. We need Kadjic and the guns." Nate whispered. Soon, they met with Kadjic. Some people were being walked downstairs. "Well, Mr. Gitt." Kadjic said with his European accent. "Ah, so you know my name." Nate said. "Well, I think we're past pretending otherwise, hmm?" Kadjic said. Nate opened the bag to reveal the money. Kadjic sighed, curiously. "What is this for?" Kadjic asked. "It's an apology." Nate said. "What for?" Kadjic asked. "For what's about to happen." Nate said. Then Kadjic's phone went off and he answered. Needless to say, Culpepper was scared, telling Kadjic that they killed his FBI handlers and cut them up in a hotel bathroom and to do what they said. Kadjic moved the phone from his ear. "Is this true?" Kadjic asked. "Well, my husband did most of the cutting." Kaira answered, nodding her heads toward Eliot. "Thank you, babe. I appreciate that." Eliot said, blank-faced as Kaira looked a bit psychotic. "You work hard." Kaira pointed out, smiling. Then drilling noises were heard and static. Kadjic looked a bit uneasy as Nate stepped towards him. "That's what we do to people who lie to us." Nate said, getting in Kadjic's space. "You just killed my partner." Kadjic said, still uneasy. "You need new partners." Nate said. Kadjic chuckled. He escorted them down the steps and walked as Tara and Parker made it down into the FBI offices.</p><p>The trio at the docks kept walking, following Kadjic. "You're lucky. I was going to leave tonight. But some of my buyers insist on seeing my goods in person." Kadjic said, walking ahead of the trio. "Still counting?" Nate asked the couple. "I'm still counting." Eliot said quietly. Parker got Hardison into the servers to get the evidence box as they went down into the boat. Nate lifted a tarp over a wooden crate, revealing guns and hand grenades. Eliot and Kaira walked up to him. "All right. Make the call." Nate whispered to Eliot and Kaira. Eliot pulled out his cell phone, revealing they had no service. Nate sighed. "All right, we got to get you two topside." Nate whispered. "Mr. Kadjic!" Nate called out to Kadjic. He got his attention. "Just a moment, please." Nate said. "Yes." Kadjic said, walking over. "So..." Kadjic said to Nate, curious what he had to say. "Listen, can we - can we speak in private?" Nate asked Kadjic. "Of course." Kadjic said to Nate before telling him men to leave. "Go look after the buyers." Kadjic ordered his men as they escorted Kaira and Eliot with them.</p><p>They stopped at a room and Eliot and Kaira snuck out soon enough. They tried to make it to the front. They walked down a narrow hallway as Eliot kept trying the cellphone. All of a sudden, a goon knocked Eliot down with the butt of the gun, and then punched Kaira, knocking her out to grab. One guy held Eliot, who was disoriented, along with Kaira who was held by the other goon. The goon talked on his phone, asking what to do with Eliot and Kaira. The goons escorted the couple through the ship and were almost topside.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira kept getting shoved up the steps as the other goon went ahead to open a hatch. Eliot's and Kaira's face has blood near the eye where they got hit. Eliot stopped moving and got shoved, getting told to move. Kaira stood beside him, not moving, and getting shoved as well, getting told to move. Eliot and Kaira looked at each other, knowing what to do next. "13." Eliot and Kaira whispered to each other. "Move it." The goon who kept shoving them ordered. Kaira jumped onto the steps as Eliot used his shoulder to disarm his goon. Kaira heard gunshots firing and used her bound hands as a brindle, putting then around the goons' throat and pulled hard, but the goon didn't budge and kicked Eliot in the face. "12." Eliot growled, getting up. Kaira flung herself back, as her hands were still around the goon's throat and used herself as an anchor as Eliot swung his arms and hit the goon's face. "11." Kaira growled as Eliot kneed him in the jaw, causing him to go down, and Kaira got off of the goon. Eliot and Kaira positioned themselves at the corridor beside the steps and Eliot went first, punching a goon, knocking him down, but the goon grabbed a big wrench, but Eliot ducked, and then him and Kaira kicked his knee, then Kaira kicked his face. Eliot grunted and yelled as he ripped apart the zip tie binding his hands. "10." Eliot said, growling still. Kaira grabbed the end of the zip tie with her mouth and pulled it tighter. She then held her hands up and pulled down against her knee hard, breaking the zip tie and grunted. Eliot looked at Kaira. "Thank you, babe, for teaching me that." Kaira chuckled as her and Eliot climbed up the steps and went out and took out more goons before heading back in and about to climb up more steps before they heard a familiar voice.</p><p>"Hey. It took you too long enough." Hardison said, still in his suit and holding a wrench. "What?" Eliot questioned as a guy came out, revealing his gun, which Kaira grabbed his arm and banged it against the metal cabinet, causing him to drop it as she kicked him in the groin and then punched him, knocking him out. "One." Eliot said, throwing the gun he grabbed to the side. "What?" Hardison asked them, looking at Kaira's handiwork. "Where's Nate?" Eliot asked Hardison. "I don't know, man. All this metal is messing with the signal, man." Hardison told the couple as they heard footsteps and saw a female figure wearing a black and white striped dress coat. "Huh?" The trio questioned. They jogged to the corridor she went down. They saw who it was. "Sophie?" The trio questioned. Sophie turned around, smiling at her team. "Took you long enough. Come on." Sophie said. She continued walking as the trio looked at each other, following her.</p><p>Eliot took out the goon was outside the room Nate was held in and bashed the door in. "Zero." Eliot growled. Nate looked impressed as Kaira kept watch as Eliot got the key off the downed goon and unlocked Nate's handcuffs. They continued out the door, meeting back up with Sophie. She stayed behind as the trio ran out to the cabin and Eliot and Hardison locked Kadjic and Culpepper with one door, then Nate got the other one with Kaira and ran like Hell, but a shot fired, missing Kaira. Nate continued shutting the door. "Good. Come on. Let's go." Sophie said, getting excited and ready to get out.</p><p>They walked out to the pier, Eliot and Kaira up front with the rest of the team trailing. They met with Parker and Tara as Kaira heard sirens in the distance. Parker hugged Sophie, which Sophie didn't know how to react to. "Huh. Parker's touching." Sophie pointed out. Parker let go of Sophie as Kaira hugged her next. "Kind of, yeah." Parker said. "I missed you, Soph." Kaira whispered to Sophie, still hugging her. "I missed you too, Kaira." Sophie whispered. Kaira let go once the sirens got louder. "Listen, I hate to cut goodbyes short, but they're playing my song." Tara said. "Well, keep out of trouble." Eliot said, saying goodbye. "Or if your want to get in trouble again..." Hardison said, a hint of a flirt. "Or if you need someone to get you out of trouble, give us a call." Kaira smiled at Tara, already knowing she was gonna miss her. "So we're -" Tara was about to ask Sophie. "Oh, we're even, absolutely." Sophie confirmed. Tara patted Nate and then walked away. "Hey." Nate said, causing Tara to stop as she looked at him. "You gonna be alright on your own?" Nate asked her, holding his chest, which Kaira noticed. "What do you think?" Tara questioned, giving a hint of a smile before leaving. The team looked around, trying to find an exit. "There's not that many ways out of here." Eliot pointed out. "Eliot, when I arrange a rescue, I do it properly." Sophie said, looking out on the pier. Just then, helicopter blades were heard. They looked to the source of the source, which was a helicopter about to land.</p><p>The team liked the exit as they went down the steps and were about to walk to the helicopter. Nate was behind. Just then, the team heard clapping and then another familiar voice. "Bravo." Sterling said. Just then, Agent Nevins revealed herself and many more men did too. Sterling walked down the steps as the team huddled up. "So... Where is Tony Kadjic?" Sterling asked, joining the agents pointing guns at the team. "He's locked in the bridge. And the guns are stored in boxes in the hold." Nate said, walking through the line of the thieves and walking up front. "I'm glad to see you kept your end of the deal, Nate." Sterling said. Nate then walked over to the railing that was on the side of the doc and handcuffed himself to the railing. The team looked at him, wondering what he was doing. Sterling looked disappointed. "Yeah, Sterling. We have a deal." Nate said. "Nate, what are you doing?" Hardison questioned Nate. Kaira realized her fears were coming true. "Stop messing around." Sterling said, taking a couple of steps towards Nate. "In 30 seconds, there'll be another dozen guns on the deck." Sterling said, trying to convince Nate to go with the deal. Eliot and the rest of the team were prepared to fight if they needed to. "Do you have any idea what's going on right now, Sterling? There's a fire in the FBI evidence room." Nate revealed. Kaira remembered the document that Tara put in the evidence locker, which had been lit into flames, burning the documents inside. "And Hardison wiped the servers of all the evidence." Nate said. "Where are you going with this?" Sterling asked. "I've destroyed all the evidence the FBI has on Culpepper and Kadjic. You have no photos, no tapes. You don't have anything." Nate said. The team all stood in a line, knowing what was happening next. "You don't have a case on anybody... unless you arrest me... and only me." Nate said. Sophie walked behind him, breathing in shock. "I agree to turn state's evidence. And I testify to what Kadjic told me, how he put the hit on Bonanno. Hell, I'll - I'll even give you Bonanno's evidence against the gunrunning." Nate said. "Nate... Kaira and I can take these guys." Eliot said, causing Nevins to look at the couple as Kaira was ready to fight. "It's just 10 more yards to the chopper, man." Hardison said, trying to tell Nate to not do what he was doing. "Listen, guys, I got you into this mess. This is only way to get you out." Nate said to his team. Then Nate addressed Sterling. "And I can feel you thinking, Sterling, and don't - don't bother. And if you touch one of them, the deal is off." Nate said, giving the terms. "Nevins loses two years of work, and your first case with Interpol -" Nate said, giving the consequences if Sterling didn't take the deal. "So, you're my case, or I have no case." Sterling said, contemplating his choices. "Exactly." Nate said, almost quietly, taunting Sterling. "We'll call it a draw, then." Sterling said. "No, we do not take this deal." Nevins ordered, drawing her weapon. Sterling turned around, annoyed as he put her weapon down. "Take one more step, I'll shoot you myself." Sterling told Nevins. Nevins walked away, telling her men to move in.</p><p>Nate turned towards the team. "Come here." Nate told his team. The team looked at each other, then walked towards Nate. "You guys are the most honorable people I have met in my life. You've become my family, my only family. I won't forget that. Now get them on the chopper, please." Nate said. The team was hesitant to move. "Now!" Nate yelled. Kaira walked up to Nate as Eliot rounded up the others. "We'll get you out, Nate." Kaira whispered to Nate, a bit emotional. "No. Kaira, get on the chopper." Nate ordered Kaira. "All right." Kaira whispered, reluctantly. Eliot grabbed her shoulder and gently walked her with the others to the chopper. Eliot and Kaira looked at Sterling after seeing Nate passionately kiss Sophie, then she slapped him, emotional over what he was doing. Kaira smiled at the display as Eliot looked at Sterling, getting in his face. "Watch your back, Sterling." Eliot warned. They continued walking, not looking back as they made it to the chopper. They all made it in and the pilot flew off. Kaira looked out the window and saw FBI surrounding a downed Nate, as an ambulance was flying in. Kaira knew Nate had been hurt. And she wished there was something she could do, but there wasn't. Her father had gone to prison for his family. And she was gonna do what she could to get him back. And one look at her team confirmed what she was going to do next. She was going to break her father out of prison. No matter what.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you really enjoyed this chapter! So, as I promised at the beginning of the chapter, here is the full top 10 list of my favorite Leverage episodes!</p><p>10.) The Two Live Crew Job (2x7) because not only is it a cool episode, it is interesting to see how the team reacts to their equals. It's not really that memorable of an episode for me, however it does have some funny moments like with Eliot and Mikels wet fight and a really good character development moment of Nate and Sophie's almost kiss at her aliases grave.</p><p>9.) The Van Gogh Job (4x4) I liked how this episode used Parker and Hardison's love story as the backdrop to the story of the painting. I also really liked how they used the actors to play the characters in the painting.</p><p>8.) The Maltese Falcon Job (2x15) While this episode wasn't that funny, but I did enjoy the storyline. I also liked the ending when Nate confesses he's a thief and kisses Sophie. But then, then slaps him. This episode proves how much he loves the team.</p><p>7.) The French Connection Job (5x4) I really liked this episode because it showed a more vulnerable side of Eliot and also Parker, with her wanting to learn how to like things, and Eliot being the only one to listen to her. And this episode does have its humor.</p><p>6.) The Rundown Job (5x10) I really liked that this episode shows how much our favorite trio has changed. I also liked how each character interacts with each other. This episode is really memorable for me and a lot of scenes I can quote.</p><p>5.) The Second David Job (1x13) because not only was it one of my favorite episodes to write Kaira into, it showed a more vulnerable and ruthless side of Nate. I also really liked the reactions of everyone to Sophie's lies.</p><p>4.) The Big Bang Job (3x15) I loved how this episode revealed the connection between Eliot and villain Moreau. I also really enjoyed the scene in the warehouse where Eliot took out all the guys. I also liked how this episode shows how much the team trusts Eliot and how much Eliot trusts the team to reveal some of his past.</p><p>3.) The Studio Job (3x6) I absolutely love this episode because 1.) I love Christian Kane's voice and 2.) I liked the idea of this episode. I also liked the teams reactions to Eliot singing. And, this episode has some of the funniest covers.</p><p>2.) The Nigerian Job (1x1) because not only is is a funny episode, it's the episode that started off the journey of our favorite crooks. I also liked how slow the development started in this episode because it left you wanting more, which is what a pilot episode's suppose to do.</p><p>1.) The Long Goodbye Job (5x15) I love this episode because it showed how awesome of an actor Timothy Hutton is. We also get the long waited engagement of Nate and Sophie. I also like how this episode was structured with you thinking one thing, then revealing something else. I also liked how the ending was open, yet satisfying. </p><p>Well, that's my list! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And stay tuned next week for season 3! As always, remember to share this story with your friends! Much love to you all! Stay Safe</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. The Jailhouse Job (3x1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team is back! After Nate takes the fall for the team after getting too close to a corrupt mayor, he is incarcerated in prison. It's up to the Leverage team to not only bust Nate out, but save the life of an inmate who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everybody! Happy late Thanksgiving to all those who are celebrating this week! This is the first episode of season 3, and I'm excited! As you probably saw in my list, some of my favorite episodes are in this season, so those should be fun to write! I'm also going to be changing the format again to make it more 3rd person like the episode because I feel like the format I was doing didn't allow for much development outside of the scenes with Kaira, so I'm gonna fix that. With that all out of the way, here is chapter 1 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sophie Devereaux was in the courthouse, her team around to help break Nate out of the courthouse. "30 seconds. Call it" Sophie ordered, holding a notepad to look like a lawyer.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot Spencer were outside in construction uniforms, eyeing the two FBI agents walking into the courthouse. "Two Feds." Eliot pointed out. "Plus five cameras with overlapping 180's." Kaira whispered in her comm. "Response time 15 seconds." Eliot reported, looking away from the building with Karia doing the same. "Hardison?" Kaira got the hacker's attention.</p><p>Hardison was inside on his phone, acting as a janitor. "Cameras are watching yesterday's footage. Locking down... which elevator?" Hardison said, causing Parker to wake up from her nap hanging upside down in an elevator, snorting as she woke up.</p><p>"Huh? What? Oh, um, um, yes, I-I'm a go for elevator one." Parker said, trying to hide that she was asleep.</p><p>"Were you asleep?" Hardison asked Parker.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot weren't gonna lie, it wasn't that surprising that Parker would fall asleep hanging upside down in the elevator.</p><p>"It's very peaceful up here. Besides, I sleep better upside down." Parker said as the elevator locked down and she got ready to move.</p><p>Hardison acted like he was cleaning the floor when Sophie walked up to where Hardison had cleaned, which was still very wet. Sophie dramatically fell into the FBI agent that was outside the elevator's arms and dropped her papers. "Oh, you okay?" The make agent asked Sophie as spoke over him. "Oh! Oh, my papers!" Sophie exclaimed, acting all dramatic.</p><p>Kaira had to chuckle.</p><p>"Oh, it's all right. I got 'em." The agent said as he gathered the papers and Hardison still acted like he was cleaning, as Sophie lifted the black gun-shaped object and messed with it. "Hey you. You!" Sophie yelled at Hardison. "You should have some signs up or - or pylons or something." Sophie argued with Hardison. "I'll go. I-I'll go. I'll go." Hardison said in an African accent, leaving the cleaning stuff behind, removing his coveralls, and revealing his suit underneath.</p><p>Nate Ford came out of the courtroom and spotted Sophie as he was being escorted out by armed FBI agents. "Incoming." Sophie reported, leaning against a wall.</p><p>Nate walked in the elevator with his agents and it went down. When it reached Parker, she repelled down to the elevator Nate was in. Parker opened the hatch at the top as the elevator was still going down as Parker climbed down and took a taser to both agents and picked Nates handcuffs. "You know, you could have just taken the keys off the guy's belt." Nate said to Parker. "Eh, this is faster." Parker said.</p><p>Hardison was walking outside as the other team members were getting ready for Nate's extraction and was on his phone, activating car alarms, causing the FBI to leave the post to investigate, leaving Eliot to knock a guy out with his helmet, and Kaira to take on the other agent, who pulled out his weapon. Kaira grabbed the guy's arm and pointed the gun upward, and the gun went off, grunting in the process. Kaira used her arms to lock the gun arm and shove the guy on the ground and kept punching him, knocking him down and disarming him as Eliot punched the first goon he took out with his helmet in the shoulder and then the gut and then shoved him towards traffic, causing him to get hit by an oncoming car.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot winced a bit and walked away, ready for Nate's getaway as Sophie pulled up. Nate and Parker left the courthouse. "Get in!" Sophie ordered Nate. The team all got in, except for Nate. "No." Nate said. "No?!" Sophie questioned as the team looked at him confused. "Uh... no." Nate said.</p><p>At Rockford Private Correctional Facility</p><p>Sophie was sitting at the visiting center, on the phone with Nate in an olive khaki uniform across from her, a little upset that Nate didn't like her plan. "What do you mean no?" Sophie asked, a little upset. "It's a horrible plan. None of it times out, and there's no way you can get to the car that fast." Nate said, not wanting to plan a breakout at the moment. "Ah, but you have to admit, it's be a lot more dramatically satisfying if I'm the one driving the getaway car." Sophie said. Nate put his finger to his lip quickly, urging Sophie to be quiet as they were talking about a breakout in a prison. "You know they record these calls." Nate whispered. Sophie showed him her phone, showing signals on it.</p><p>"I created a carrier signal for our conversation, but I'm dumping another conversation onto the prison recording system." Hardison said looking at the screens with Eliot and Kaira coming behind him with beers at Nate's apartment. "Spanish soap opera." Eliot pointed out. Kaira chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Check it out, man." Hardison said as Eliot handed Hardison a beer and handed one to Kaira, who took a swig. "Look, it turns out Pepe's twin brother Peppi is actually Guadalupe's baby's daddy." Hardison said as Kaira about snorted her beer in surprise. "Seriously?" Eliot questioned. "Gotta love them telenovelas." Kaira said, joking as she smiled and took another swig as Spanish was heard over the speakers quietly. Just then, Parker walked in, holding her repelling gear. "He didn't want to do it." Eliot told Parker as she went to go sit her stuff down, going behind the group. "Oh, but I love jumping on elevators." Parker said, disappointed, amusing the team. "I know." Hardison said, looking at Parker, who went to sit her gear on the table, the team joining her. "This is my special elevator rig he got me for Christmas." Parker said. "All right, look, Nate, you took the fall for us, so -" Eliot said getting back on track, going to sit next to Kaira, who sat next to Parker, and Hardison beside Eliot. "After you lied to us. He's a liar." Hardison pointed out, causing a scoff from Kaira. "He took the fall for your ungrateful ass." Kaira growled, annoyed at Hardison's comment. Hardison looked offended at the woman. "You went to jail so we wouldn't have to. We get that, so we're square. But now you got to let us get you out of prison." Eliot said, tapping the table. "But if we're gonna do that..." Parker said. "And not all of us are convinced that we should." Hardison said, getting annoyed looks from the rest of the team. "... Then we have to hit you at your next hearing." Kaira butted in. "That prison's escape proof." Parker said.</p><p>"Guys, no. I committed a crime, I got caught, and now I am gonna serve my time." Nate said to his team, not wanting them to go through with the plan. "Nate, what kind of world would it be if everybody that committed a silly little crime went to prison, huh? Complete madness." Sophie argued, mocking slightly at Nate. The team looked at each other, slightly amused by what Sophie said. "Did you get the Kielbasa?" Sophie asked Nate. "Yeah." Nate said, showing the kielbasa with a red bow on it to Sophie. "There's an earbud inside it." Sophie revealed quietly, winking at Nate. "Now listen to me, in no way, shape or form are you gonna break me out of this prison. Understood?" Nate said, ordering his team.</p><p>"Okay, you know - you know what? Fine, Nate. We're still out here. We're still doing the job. We help people nobody helps. That's important. You want to stay around and miss out just because you got to figure out your guilty conscience, that's your loss." Hardison argued, annoyed Nate wouldn't let them help him. Eliot, Parker, and Kaira also had annoyed expressions. Nate chuckled. "Yeah, Hardison, I wa-" Hardison said when he shut the TVs off, annoyed still. Kaira wasn't going to lie, she was too. She wanted to help Nate, but he wouldn't let them. She walked away, annoyed.</p><p>Sophie stood up. "Wait, Sophie. Sophie, Ho- Just-" Nate said before Sophie cut him off. "Who, me?" Sophie said into the phone, annoyed. "Yeah." Nate said. "No. I don't use the name Sophie anymore. I use my real name now." Sophie said, still annoyed. "Oh, your real - a-and what is that?" Nate asked. "You know that they record these calls, don't you?" Sophie mocked Nate and hung up. Nate was shocked and frustrated. As the team cooled off from their conversation with Nate, still annoyed with him for not accepting their help,</p><p>Nate walked up to a young black man with a cart of books. "Hey." The black guy said, greeting Nate. "Seamus Heaney. That Irish guy you asked for." He said, handing the old book to Nate. Nate flipped through the pages. "Oh, excellent. Wow, thanks... Billy, right?" Nate asked the black man. "Uh, yeah." Billy confirmed. "Well, thank you. This could not have been easy to find." Nate said, grateful he took the time to find the book. "Well, you seemed pretty down. And we got to stand up for each other, right?" Billy said. "Yeah, You're all right, Billy." Nate said, glad he made a friend. "Yeah. Wish the judge thought so." Billy said, leaving. That caught Nate's interest. "Yeah, I appreciate it." Nate said. He walked to read the book, spying Billy walking into the hallway, followed by two prison gang members with shanks. Nate walked up to the security guard. "I think something's happening." Nate said, pointing to the hallway. "Thanks for your input. You can move on now." The guard said, not caring what Nate said.</p><p>Nate let it go and left his book on the counter and walked into the hallway. He found Billy getting shoved into a wall and about to get beaten, so he grabbed a white pillowcase and put it over the goon, tightening it, then shoved him to the ground leaving him there. "Grab the knife." Billy said as Nate grabbed Billy and told him to go. Another gang member went to go after Nate, but shut the door in time and took Billy into the kitchen, leaving the guy banging on the door. Nate walked with Billy in. "Now what the hell was that about, Billy?" Nate asked Billy, point blank. "Remember that '88 gangbanger that got beat to death last month?" Billy asked. "Yeah." Nate said. "Yeah, well, his buddies think I did it." Billy said, still walking with Nate. "Did you?" Nate asked, getting straight to the point. "No! No, I found the body, all right, but the guards say nobody else was near him, so now I'm down for it." Billy said.</p><p>"Here." Nate said, pointing to the fridge and shoving Billy in it and closing the door. "Yeah, well, that doesn't make sense. The warden should have put you in protective custody." Nate said, looking at Billy, who was pacing. "Look, I don't even know why I'm in prison. You want to hear what I did?" Billy said, pleading his case to Nate. "Yeah." Nate said, wanting to hear the guy's story. "I drove up to New Hampshire to see my girlfriend, all right? I had beer in the trunk. I-I crossed state lines. I - I didn't even know that was illegal." Billy explained his case, panicking at what happened. "Y-You expect me to believe that?" Nate questined, testing Billy's story. "Look, I swear to God. I didn't even have a lawyer for the hearing. Look, they said it was just a fine. I plead guilty. Next thing I know, I'm in here for eight months!" Billy said as Nate excused himself. "I-I'm a frickin' accountant, man. I-" Billy said as Nate put his shoe on the box and pulled out to kielbasa from Sophie, agreeing to help this guy out. "All right, you're an accountant." Nate revealed the kielbasa and Billy freaked out. "Yeah. Uh, unh-unh. Oh, wait. What, uh - what is that for?" Billy questioned Nate, hoping it wasn't anything bad. "It's kielbasa." Nate said, not knowing what the deal was. "I-I know that, but what are you doing with it?" Billy asked as Nate started digging through the kielbasa to get to the earbud. "Don't - um um - come on, man. That's - that's nasty." Billy said, disgusted as Nate put the earbud in his ear. "In your ear. That's great." Billy said, not having what Nate was doing. "Hardison." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira and Hardison were at the table, getting some electronics things ready. Hardison and Kaira were kinda annoyed at Nate. "Oh, no. Mnh-mnh. No, we extended our hand of forgiveness and you slapped it away. Now go away. I'm having some me time." Hardison said, playing with the electronic. "It ain't me time if you got your little sis with you, big bro." Kaira said mockingly but serious as Hardison scoffed at Kaira. Nate rolled his eyes.</p><p>"Please, please, I just want you two to check the records of inmate Billy Epping. Fast kiddo!" Nate said. Billy looked at Nate like he was crazy. "Look, man, who are you talking to?" Billy asked Nate.</p><p>Hardison looked at Kaira annoyed. "Hardison, you heard the man." Kaira said. Hardison reluctantly put the electronic stick down and started hacking into the prison records for Billy's record as Kaira watched. Hardison didn't mind Kaira watching as he liked teaching her what he did. And he would learn from her too when it came to fighting. The computer beeped at Hardison. "Whoa." Hardison said, surprised about something. "What is it?" Kaira asked the hacker as she looked at his screen. "O-Okay, Uh, William Epping's conviction was for transporting liquor across state lines, but his sentence was way longer than anyone's received for that crime since, like, the pilgrim's, man." Hardison reported. "That's illegal?" Kaira questioned, getting a look from Hardison. Hardison was scrolling through the file. "Wait, Hardison pull up the records for Nate and Billy." Kaira asked Hardison, catching something out of the corner of her eye. "Nathan, your warden was consulted during sentencing. That's fishy." Kaira reported, worried what Nate got himself into</p><p>. Billy was done with Nate. Nate walked up to Billy. "Now, listen to me, we're gonna check this out, okay?" Nate told Billy. "Okay, okay." Billy agreed to the help. Nate put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." Nate said. "For what?" Billy asked Nate. Nate then stabbed Billy non lethally with the shiv and eased him down. Nate looked away as Billy was about to pass out.</p><p>Kaira was surprised to hear what she did. "Nathan, did you just stab Billy with a shiv?" Kaira asked Nate.</p><p>"Maybe. Hardison, why don't you gather the team and get me background checks on the - on the warden?" Nate ordered as Billy was in shock. Billy told Nate off for stabbing him, which Nate told him he will be okay.</p><p>"Nate, did you find us a client in prison?" Hardison asked, amused as Kaira smiled. It felt good to get Nate back on the case.</p><p>"Yes, we are going to help Billy Epping and maybe take down a warden at the same time." Nate said. He looked at Billy, who once again asked who he was talking to, and then said he was gonna pass out.</p><p>Kaira sent the text to Parker, Eliot, and Sophie to meet at Nate's apartment to discuss the background and the plan for getting them help. They met with the team. Hardison was a banker, with Kaira as his assistant, Eliot was a Doctor who was sent to watch over Billy as he was getting patched up, Sophie and Parker went to hit a judge's office. Hardison and Kaira set a meeting later in the morning for the warden.</p><p>They met at his office, where he got them both drinks. "How did I get started? Well, hedge funds, actually, and then a bit of international finance. But then 10 years ago, I hit on this- national prison properties. Get the government out of the justice business. Mister..." The warden, Adam Worth the 4th, explained, handing two glasses of liquor to Hardison and Kaira, who was taking notes, wearing a sexy accountant get up with Hardison in a suit as he stood up to take the drink with Kaira. "Barrington-Jones." Hardison introduced himself as he shook the warden's hand and Kaira stood up. "And Miss..." The warden turned to Kaira. She shook his hand. "Morgan Jones. His younger sister." Kaira introduced in a slight southern accent. Hardison rolled his eyes at Kaira, but staying in cover. "Sorry. She likes telling people that." Hardison explained Kaira's burst away. "Brilliant. Corporate-run prisons, five facilities, thousands of inmates - it's tremendous." Hardison said, getting back on track as the warden looked away as Hardison went to plug in a USB to copy the warden's computer. Kaira covered for him by walking with the warden and sitting in a chair in his office. "The U.S has the fastest-growing prison population in the world. Well, it's like the real estate boom." The warden said, chuckling, causing Kaira to chuckle. Hardison looked back towards the warden, who had his attention focused on Kaira. "Except, of course, the problem with real estate - you eventually run out of land." The warden chuckled again as Hardison sat down in the chair closest to the wardens. "You never run out of people to put in prison." The warden said. "Hmm. We haven't had much success with the prison concept in England. Our estimation firm has large real-estate holdings for construction of facilities." Hardison said. "You see, ant old yahoo can lay some concrete and throw up some razor wire. The profit comes in proper management." Hardison got on his phone to check how his USB was doing, tuning out. Kaira still payed attention. "For example, the big money for us is in prison labor." The warden said. Kaira tapped Hardison discreetly on the leg to get his attention. "Sorry?" Hardison questioned. "Goods and services made by prisoners in America - 2 billion dollars a year. One out of every five office chairs and desks made in America. Made by convicts. And those jobs are not going to the Chinese." The warden said, chuckling at his idea. "Bottom's up." The warden said, toasting to Hardison and Kaira, who also toasted as they took a drink. They continued talking, building a rapport with the warden.</p><p>Nate and Billy were in the infirmary as part of Nate's plan to keep Billy safe. Two guards were posted outside as Nate stood by Billy, now in a hospital gown, laying on the hospital bed. "Man, is this really the best plan?" Billy asked Nate, concerned, whispering. "Listen, the infirmary's under lockdown. There's cameras on both sides of the door, extra guards because of the pharmaceuticals. It's the safest place in the prison, really." Nate said. Just then the door buzz, revealing Eliot in his doctor cover. "Plus, I, uh, got you a little extra insurance coming right now." Nate whispered.</p><p>Billy and Nate watched Eliot as he talked to the guards. "Abernathy, M.D. Here's my C-13A State employment certification. There's my processing forms, the A-76/4 -" Eliot was explaining, looking at each of the guards. "You worked in a prison clinic before?" The guard asked. "Have I worked - Sir, I'm-If you look on this, you can see my history right here. F-Framingham, Concord. Hell, my roommate at Tufts drives a Benz and fixes little girls' noses - rich ones, all right? I-I got shanked by my own scalpel last year in the neck." Eliot said, getting annoyed, which was a tactic both Sophie and Kaira taught her. "Okay, already. Welcome to Rockford." The guard said.</p><p>Kaira and Hardison smiled on the inside of Eliot's grift. "Thank you." Eliot said, acting like he was glad he got in. "The guard will stay. Yo, Ford..." The guard said. Nate hummed in acknowledgment. "Clear out." The guard ordered Nate. "Yeah, um.. in one minute." Nate said, knowing he had to get information to Eliot. "Hi Billy. It's Dr. Abernathy. I'm going to be taking a look at you." Eliot said, staying in cover and shaking Billy's hand. "If you do exactly what I say, I'm gonna get you home...alive, okay?" Eliot whispered to Billy, breaking cover. "Thanks." Billy whispered back, getting the idea Eliot was giving. "Okay." Eliot said out loud. "Ford, come on. Let's go." The guard said, getting impatient. "Yeah, Just, uh-" Nate was about to get ready to leave when Eliot stopped him. "I need to talk to you." Eliot whispered to Nate.</p><p>Nate understood and started walking as Eliot put on a doctor's coat. Nate then yelled in pain, acting like he had a toothache. Eliot walked over, staying in cover. "You all right? What did you do? Did you do something?" Eliot asked the guard and Nate. The guard got defensive and stepped back as Eliot grabbed Nate. "No, I got-" Nate mumbled. "What happened?" Eliot asked Nate. "Your tooth? Your mouth?" Eliot questioned Nate, still in cover. "No, it's like shooting pain through my..." Nate explained, still acting like he was in pain. "Let me see this real quick." Eliot said, shining his light in Nate's mouth. "Whoa, hold up. Yeah, that's infected." Eliot said, turning off the light. "It's just a shooting -" Nate said, demonstrating the idea. "You know I can take you down to dental. I can take care of this right now, and you give me one second. We'll be right back." Eliot said, going to escort Nate so they could talk. "I have to go with you." The guard said. "You have to go with us? Well, come on." Eliot started chuckling as he walked with Nate, who was still acting. "Make sure you got your earplugs, though, because I'm gonna be sawing through some bone, and the "ZZZ" is really loud. And your, uh, and the burning flesh and stuff, So, I'll try to have- or we can just - well, you know what? It's fine. Just sit right in here, sir. And please have seat." Eliot said, causing the guard to get disgusted, letting them in peace as Eliot brought Nate in to the dental room and sat him on the chair.</p><p>Eliot whirred the chair back as Nate just looked confused and annoyed. "It's just in case the guards come in." Eliot said. Eliot then put the restraints that were on the chair on Nate's wrists. "Restraints." Eliot said, causing Nate to chuckle, being quiet. "Here's an infirmary manual." Eliot said He turned on the dentist's light and the light shown in Nate's face, but Eliot adjusted it to hit his mouth. Nate was getting slightly anxious. Then Eliot started the drill, and Eliot brought the chair up slightly. Nate laughed uncomfortably. "That's, uh, for the - for the guards, right?" Nate asked, worried Eliot was gonna drill him, and not the sexy kind of drilling (Thank you Dean Winchester for the quote). "You know what I usually do, Nate, to people that run a con on their own team? Almost get people killed 'cause they're out of control?" Eliot asked, kinda sending mixed signals about what he wanted to do. Hardison and Kaira were still talking with the warden, and Sophie and Parker were about ready to start their run. "Are we okay, Eliot?" Nate asked, worried. Eliot stopped the drill and put it down on the side table, showing while he wasn't happy with what Nate did, he understood why Nate did what he did, as he pulled a USB out of his pocket and plugged it into the USB dock on the keyboard of the computer. On the screen was all the information Hardison and Kaira found. "Adam Worth the fourth. Harvard business school. Old money political dynasty in this state. His daddy was a governor, his uncle was an Attorney General, and his brother is the congressman. Adam here even took a couple of early runs at office, but couldn't get elected as a dogcatcher. That's why he got into business. Hardison and Kaira are working him." Eliot informed Nate. "Okay, first we have to figure out how to nail the warden on whatever scam he's running here. Second, we got to get Billy out of here in case things go bad." Nate said, giving the plan. "Told you - this place is escape proof." Eliot said. He tapped some keys on the keyboard, remembering what Hardison taught him. "21st century prison, fewer guards, more tech - infrared cameras, motion sensors, lockdown doors." Eliot explained why the prison was escape proof. "Okay. Does Parker or Kaira have any ideas?" Nate asked, knowing the thieves had to have thought of something. "Parker's working with..." Eliot said, but stopped himself, as he was about to say something he couldn't say. Nate looked at the hitter curiously. "..Sophie." Eliot said, getting the grifter's name right. "What was that?" Nate asked, knowing something was up. "I - I didn't - I-" Eliot stumbled, trying to play it off. "A little pause there." Nate pointed out. "Sophie told us her real name. I'm not allowed to say it in front of you." Eliot revealed. "Seriously?" Nate asked. Eliot confirmed the idea. "Her and Parker - they're running the judge." Eliot told Nate.</p><p>Back at the courthouse, Sophie and Parker pretended to be arguing about a case, acting as attorneys as they lifted some things from the judge, pretending to bump into him, and acted apologetic as he left his chambers. They walked in and looked around. Sophie walked behind the desk and Parker was across from her. Sophie pulled out the judge's keycard and checkbook. "Key card and checkbook." Sophie showed Parker, proud of herself. "Keys and appointment book." Parker said, revealing her items. Sophie glared at Parker as she held a specific key. "Ooh, and this? Safe deposit box key." Parker said. Sophie looked impressed. "Ooh, I love a secret." Sophie said. She tossed the keycard on the desk and sat down as Parker went behind the desk to look at the files to see if she could find anything. Sophie grabbed the phone and dialed the bank. "Yes, yes, this is Mrs. Melvoy. I'm - I'm calling about my account." Sophie said in a slightly different accent than her own. "Ooh, yeah, account number... 0018345." Sophie said as Parker cracked the safe, smiling at herself. "Yes, I got a call about my safe deposit box, that a payment was due." Sophie said as Parker looked at the files in the office. "Billy Epping... and more - a lot more -all sent to Rockford Correctional." Parker said, piquing Sophie's interest. Sophie and Parker wrapped as Parker copied the files for Hardison and Sophie finished her phone call. Kaira and Hardison wrapped up the meeting with the warden, and Eliot listened to the briefing at the prison, as he had to keep an eye on Billy, just in case. Nate sat in his cell, listening as well.</p><p>Hardison was at the screen as the women gathered at the table. Hardison pulled up the files Parker copied. "Two years ago, Judge Melvoy got a safe deposit box right around the time he started sending people down for hard time. And I'm talking citizens, not, you know, people like us." Hardison said as the files flew by, showing the large amount. "Well, Judge Melvoy's not the only one. Four judges opened safe deposit boxes at the same time." Parker said, starting to look at the files she copied. "There - I mean, there are hundreds of cases here, and these are just the ones we found." Sophie said, sitting at the table as well as Parker and Kaira looked through the files. Hardison scoffed as he pulled up more information. "Records I pulled off of Worth's computer show that each time an inmate checks in at Rockford, their judge gets an e-mail. Now, it looks coded. I'm thinking Cayman Islands bank account." Hardison said.</p><p>Nate was playing with a chess piece in his cell. "Hardison, private prisons have a contract with the state just like any company that provides a service. Now, do they have to maintain a head count?" Nate said, quietly.</p><p>"Mh-hmm. Yeah. See, Rockford can't drop below 70 percent occupancy. If they do, they lose their state funding. No state money, they close. And they came very close two years ago." Hardison said, pulling up that info. "That's the same time the judges opened the safe deposit boxes." Kaira pointed out, starting to see the connections.</p><p>"So, private prisons are like the hotel business. They live and die on occupancy, headcount. Now, Worth wasn't gonna lose 100 million in profit just cause he didn't have enough hard-cases to fill the prison." Nate said before Kaira caught on to what he was saying.</p><p>"He gets a few judges to bribe to send inmates with minor offenses and nonviolent offenders to his prison. They're easy to manage." Kaira realized. Nate smiled a little, proud of Kaira. Parker looked at Kaira confused. "Yeah, but why these people?" Parker asked. Just then, Eliot revealed himself from behind the corkboard, stopping to take off his glasses. "Because they're citizens. Cause they're honest, middle-class citizens. These are the people - they don't want to cause any trouble. They can't afford a lawyer, so if some judge sends them away, well, yes, sir. They were taught to trust the courts. They believe in the system." Eliot said, getting a bit heated. Kaira looked at her husband sympathetically. Eliot was still pissed Nate took the fall. Because Nate was an honest man. And the system failed him. Eliot and Kaira were thieves. They knew what they were doing. They would've gladly gone to prison if it meant Nate could be the honest man they know. One look from Eliot confirmed she was thinking correctly. And the other team members had a similar idea. "So, Nate, what you got?" Sophie asked Nate, already knowing he had something in mind.</p><p>"Well, Worth makes money sending innocent people to prison. I have just the thing." Nate said, pleased with himself.</p><p>He told the team the plan. Sophie was gonna pretend to be a campaign manager to grift Worth into thinking he could run for Senate. Kaira and Hardison were still their covers, Eliot as well, and Parker, Hardison, and Kaira helped Nate plan a breakout.</p><p>Sophie left to talk to Worth. Sophie showed Worth some photos, which Hardison photoshopped after a photoshoot with Parker, who after some direction from both Kaira and Sophie, ended up getting naked right in front of them, causing Hardison to get really uncomfortable and Kaira looking away and Sophie scolding Parker, but letting it go to get the photos done. She hooked Worth on the idea that he could be a United States Senator, which he revealed he was thinking about running, also using her leggy outfit to get him to like her.</p><p>Hardison, Parker, and Kaira were back at the office, listening and looking at blueprints for the prison to plan a breakout. "Worth's on the hook. Now, I got to give it to you, Nate, nobody can read a mark quite like you. Except maybe Kaira." Hardison said, looking at the women behind the table. Kaira gave Hardison a grateful smile, which was reciprocated. "Oh, come on, he tried to run twice and failed. That had to have been eating away at him. Now, find me a way out of this place." Nate said, walking through the prison corridors.</p><p>Eliot was with Billy at the infirmary. "Billy showed me where he found the first dead gang member. Blind spot - no cameras." Eliot reported.</p><p>"Nice coincidence." Nate and Kaira said at the same time, causing a slight chuckle from the boys.</p><p>"Yeah, and Hardison checked the incident reports. All of them happened in camera blind spots - places convicts wouldn't know existed." Eliot added, slightly amused by his wife.</p><p>"Guards." Nate said, coming down the prison stairs.</p><p>"They killed him, accident, whatever, they let Billy here find him, wouldn't be the first time." Eliot said.</p><p>"Can we use the blind spots?" Nate asked. "I really want a back door out of this place." Nate said.</p><p>"No, Nate, I can't access those cameras from here. They're dumb. They run straight to the servers." Hardison reported. "Yeah, and they could have upgraded the motion sensors and infrareds since these plans." Parker said. "You'll have to map it old school, Nathan." Kaira reported, getting off the table with Parker.</p><p>It took a few hours but with Eliot and Nate's help, Hardison, Parker, and Kaira were able to make a map of all the lockdown bolts, sensors, and cameras using different colored dots to represent the different problems. The trio at the apartment grabbed hands to celebrate until they put the last problem up on the board. "Nate, if you could see this, you would not be encouraged." Hardison said. It was true. Every room had some sort of sensor.</p><p>Nate was in the dining hall, using chess pieces to help get the visual. "Yeah, I see it. Yeah. I hope Sophie has more luck with the warden." Nate said.</p><p>"Who's Sophie?" Parker asked. Kaira groaned. "You remember, we're not supposed to use her real name with, uh..." Hardison filled in the blank. "Right, Nate hasn't earned it yet. Forgot." Parker said, starting to chuckle. Kaira glared at Parker. Parker ignored her and kept repeating Sophie to get it in her head.</p><p>Nate was still brainstorming an idea, while Sophie still worked the grift with Worth, hitting a slight snag with the money.</p><p>At the end of the day, Eliot returned to help the team plan the breakout. Eliot and Hardison were standing up, looking at the screen, Kaira beside Eliot, and Parker on the table. "All right, we cut that wire." Eliot said, pointing to a camera. "No. No, look, once a lockdown is called, all these sensors go hot and those door bolts drop into place." Hardison said. "I got it!" Parker said, playing with a remote control and sitting up. "The furnace room. There's no sensors because it's too hot. They crawl straight down along the heating pipes until they reach the sewage system. Ha ha!" Parker said as she walked to the board and looked at the team.</p><p>"Now, Parker, it's a 150 degrees in there." Nate pointed out, sitting at a table.</p><p>"The average human can withstand that for 27 seconds." Parker said. Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira looked away, not liking it. "What? Come on." Parker said, knowing her plan would work. Kaira did too, but it was risky. Sophie walked in from her meeting with Worth. "Worth is on the hook, but with 250 of ours as a buy in." Sophie said.</p><p>"Ouch." Nate said.</p><p>"Oh, did I say ours? I meant what's left of your life savings. Yeah, we took it out of your account." Sophie said, joining the others at the table. "Any - any luck here?" Sophie asked the team, noticing the board. "No." The team said.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah. Got it. B corridor, through the kitchen, into the freezer, into the freezer air exchange, into the machine tunnels, which will lead me to the roof or the parking lot." Nate said as Hardison walked to the screens.</p><p>"You got to beat the lockdown door to the corridor. There's a thousand pounds of pressure on that bolt." Hardison said. "There's motion sensors in the kitchen." Eliot said, walking up to Hardison. "And infrared in the machine corridor." Parker said, also joining the boys. Kaira walked up to Eliot as Sophie walked beside Hardison. "All to get up to the roof, or the parking lot, where you'll be trapped and probably brutally gunned down." Sophie said. "Nathan, you better have a way out of that, or I swear to God." Kaira said, half warning, half hoping.</p><p>"I'm working on it." Nate said, looking at the things in front of him.</p><p>The next day, the team got ready to execute the plan. Kaira and Hardison waited in the office for Worth to come in. Eliot was at the infirmary, and Parker and Sophie was going to guide Nate through the breakout at Hardison's new van. Worth came into his office and hung up his dry cleaning. "Ah, Mr. Barrington-Jones... and Miss Jones. Welcome back." Adam said as Hardison and Kaira stood up to shake his hand. "Thanks for seeing us again. We fly out tonight, but my shareholders had a few more questions." Hardison said. Just then, the phone rang and Adam went behind his desk to answer it. Hardison and Kaira carefully watched Worth's expressions. He seemed concerned about something. Kaira picked up on it. He excused himself, and Kaira tried to persuade him to stay, but he left. Hardison went behind the computer on the desk as Worth was out of site and Kaira watched for him. "Nate, the cameras just went down." Hardison reported. "What?" Kaira questioned, shooting a concerned look at the hacker.</p><p>"Okay, where?" Nate asked.</p><p>"The whole system. They faked a reboot. It's down for five minutes." Hardison said. Kaira knew what Nate was thinking as he got ready. "Babe, get ready, you're about to have incoming for Billy." Kaira quickly reported as she still checked for Worth.</p><p>"Parker, please tell me you're at Hardison's new van." Nate said, walking to get to the infirmary to back Eliot up.</p><p>"Yeah, it's really nice." Parker said. leaning against the back of the black van.</p><p>"Did you bring it?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Wait, are we doing that now?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Yeah, we're gonna break out right now." Nate said, thinking of his next move.</p><p>"Yes!" Parker exclaimed as she opened up the van to grab the RC helicopter to distract the guards.</p><p>"Sophie, I need you to help guide me through it." Nate said, grabbing the paper.</p><p>"We're on the count. Nate, when they call lockdown, every door in the prison seals tight." Sophie said as she was at the apartment.</p><p>Two guard went to go after Billy, who was getting on his uniform, but Eliot fought them off, with Nate arriving just as Eliot took care of the guards and escaped with Billy as Eliot left.</p><p>Kaira and Hardison listened as Nate got Billy past the lockdown bolt and Sophie sent Worth to the bank. She reported the information to the team as Worth went into his office.</p><p>"Oh, Mr. Barrington Jones, Miss Jones, I,uh - have to go." Worth said, going to his computer. An alarm was heard, signaling that lockdown had begun. "What is that alarm?" Hardison asked Worth. "A lockdown." Worth said as he dialed and picked up the phone. He asked a guy named Bellows what was happening. He hung up the phone and grabbed his coat to leave. "Look, I don't have time for this. Call me tomorrow, and we'll reschedule, please." Worth said. Hardison tried to stop him. Worth walked out. "Don't forget your dry cleaning." Hardison said. Worth grabbed his dry cleaning and left. Kaira and Hardison left soon behind as Sophie guided Nate through the breakout.</p><p>Parker flew the RC drone, making it seem as if it was an actual helicopter on the cameras. Kaira went in a separate vehicle with Eliot as the guards surrounded the van Nate and "Epping" went in, they opened the van, and Parker and Hardison acted as if they were in the middle of knocking boots in the van. Nate escaped at the bank and wore a suit, which Kaira had switched when Lockdown was first called. Hardison pretended to be Epping, and changed. Bonanno luckily arrived at the prison and set things straight and arrested Worth. With the bank account that Sophie set up, which she put Nate's money in as from the party, they set Worth up that he helped Nate escape.</p><p>They all arrived at the apartment, waiting on Nate. Hardison was cleaning up as Nate walked in. "What have you done to my apartment?" Nate asked, looking around, noticing the changes Hardison made. "I'm the landlord, and this place was vacant. We needed an office." Hardison said. Kaira hugged Nate quickly, glad he was back. The team gathered up their things as Hardison gave them all tickets. "Now, I got staggered flights on air France. Nate, I put you on a train to New York, The you fly out on air Uruguay." Hardison said, walking away. "Air Uruguay? What are you talk-" Nate asked, wondering what was happening. "Yeah, your passport as you as Juan Ford, coffee merchant." Hardison said. "Now, look, we all rendezvous in Paris and..." Hardison said as he opened the door and stopped abruptly.</p><p>Men with guns were at the door. Eliot went to go after them, but Nate and Kaira grabbed his arms, holding him back as Kaira dropped her bag, the team on edge. "Buona Sera, Signore Ford." An Italian female voice came from behind. The team turned around and saw a brown haired Italian woman walking down Nate's stairs. They left to talk business.</p><p>Nate returned and sat with the team at the table and informed the team of their new target/problem. The Italian wanted the team to take down Damien Moreau. That name sent shivers down Kaira's spine. She had heard of this guy from various parties. She did not like him at all. "Damien Moreau? Are you out of your mind? Nobody touched Moreau!" Sophie exclaimed, not very pleased with the idea of taking out a heavy target. "Nate, Moreau finances the Sicilians, the Russian Mafia, the Columbian Cartels." Hardison said, not happy. "Yeah, he moves money for the North Koreas, stolen artifacts for Iraq, nuclear materials for Iran." Eliot said, not happy. "Moreau is the big bad." Hardison said. "Nathan, he's got his fingers everywhere, how do you expect to take him down?" Kaira asked Nate, not happy. "N-Nate, these files are CIA, FBI, Mossad, Japanese security." Parker pointed out. "So... who is this woman?" Sophie asked, asking the question everyone was thinking.</p><p>Nate informed the team that she wasn't police or anyone in government, just a woman who wants Moreau taken down.</p><p>"She wants to hire us to go after Moreau?" Sophie asked. The team started objected, all talking at once. "Guys, guys, guys!" Nate exclaimed, getting the team to be quiet. "Just wait a second. This is not a job." Nate said.</p><p>He informed the team that she had dirt on the team and could set them free. Or kill the team and lock Nate away if they failed.</p><p>"She's blackmailing us?" Sophie questioned. "This just keeps getting better and better." Kaira groaned, not happy at all with this development. "She's - she's - sort of." Nate said, starting to stammer. With looks from the team and admitted she was blackmailing them. "Yeah, yeah." Nate said, sipping bourbon. "Sucks to be on the wrong side of that, finally." Parker said. "Right now, they have the leverage, so what we have to do is we have to get it back." Nate said, comforting the team some with a plan. Eliot and Kaira looked at each other, thinking. "We can't go straight at a guy like Moreau. They'll vaporize us." Eliot pointed out a plan. "Right, so what we do is we do like we've always done in the past, is we do jobs that help people. Only this time, some of them are gonna lead us right to Moreau." Nate said. The team was still uneasy, but still worried. "Okay. I mean, I do have a pretty big client list waiting for us to check out." Hardison said. He pointed at Parker, who smiled at him, causing the team to be a bit more comforted at the fact that they were back. "Oh, we back in business." Hardison said, chuckling along with Kaira.</p><p>The team left, glad to be back to work as Sophie stayed behind. Nate was sipping a glass of alcohol. "So... how's that going for you?" Sophie asked Nate. "This? Uh, thanks for asking. Yeah, it's, um, good. You know, what I realized is, is that I tried being a drunk honest man. a sober thief, so I'm gonna try being a drunk thief, you know? Try that for a little while." Nate said. Sophie didn't respond, just thought of what Nate said. "You're not going to try to save me, are you?" Nate asked. Sophie sat on the table and grabbed Nate's glass and drank from his glass. "You're a thief now. You can save yourself." Sophie said. She got off the table and kept walking. "Whatever you say, Dominique." Nate said. Sophie looked back as Nate kept guessing at her name. Sophie eventually just left.</p><p>Meanwhile, the team was thinking of the task at hand. They had six months to take down Moreau. This was going to be their toughest challenge yet. Little did they know, Eliot and Kaira were silently hoping they could put off a secret they both held for so long.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! This season has some of my favorite episodes, so I'm anxious to start writing them next week! My goal is to do the Christmas episode, "The Ho Ho Ho Job", just before Christmas comes, which will probably see a lot of chapters uploaded for that week, as I'll have a lot of time off. Thank you for reading so far! As always, remember to share this story with your friends! Much love to you all! Stay Safe!<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. The Reunion Job (3x2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team is at it again! Reunited after busting leader Nate out of prison, they are dealt an almost impossible task. Take down the father of all criminals, Damien Moreau. But before they can start to go after Moreau, they have a client to help. A young hacker in hiding asks the team to take down the man in charge of Manticore, a program that's ruining lives. To get the password for the high school obsessed Larry Duberman's server, they infiltrate his high school reunion.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! I hope you're still enjoying this series! I'm still having fun writing this series! So, before I start writing this chapter, I have some announcements. First, comment if you'd like to see a series of shorts, either in this book or if I made another book for short stories featuring Kaira. Second, I'm taking a break from writing Uncharted: El Dorado to write Uncharted 4: The Gunsway Heist Treasure, both are on my Wattpad. If you like the Uncharted video games, I'd check out my Uncharted stories! With that out of the way, here is chapter 2 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate, Hardison, and Kaira met with their client. Eliot was secretly lurking at the booth next to them, just keeping watch. Cyrus told his soldiers had erased all his data on Manticore and knocked him out as they took his laptop. "All my work, erased, and I was only days away from cracking Manticore." Cyrus finished his story. "What's Manticore?" Nate asked."It's an electronic surveillance system. The Iranian government uses it to track protesters over cell phones, social networks, even e-mail." Cyrus said. "Yeah, hacker underground's are flipping out about it. They use GPS to pinpoint a dissident, and then they swoop in and make the arrest." Hardison said. "Without probable cause?" Kaira questioned, feeling bad for Cyrus and the other people this has happened to. "Yes. The internet made this protest possible, but now it's just a-" Cyrus was saying before Nate cut him off. "A liability? The government uses the people's weapon against them." Nate said, getting the idea. "Precisely. I cannot even communicate with my family in Iran. Manticore would find them. I have no idea if they are safe. And the secret police are everywhere. Next week, our people are planning a protest to coincide with the election. If I can't shut down Manticore, the government will find and arrest every organizer and break the backbone of the movement." Cyrus said, giving the stakes. Kaira was about to accept the job, but Nate interrupted her. "We're not spy hunters, Mr. Madavhi." Nate said, implying the job wasn't what they did. "I cannot go to the FBI. My activities would violate my student visa." Cyrus informed the group. "So you want your data back." Nate said, thinking he knew what Cyrus wanted. "I want Manticore destroyed. I want my people to be free." Cyrus said, all but begging Nate to help him. Kaira was about to accept the job again, but Nate cut her off. "All right, well, we'll discuss it." Nate said, signaling for Cyrus to leave, as Kaira gave the silent message that she was gonna help him.</p><p>Cyrus left and Hardison spoke up. "Discuss it?" Hardison questioned, not liking that Nate dismissed him. "Oh, this is so not our game, Hardison." Nate said, dismissing the hacker. "Not our g- Nate, this isn't just some hacker, okay?" Hardison said. "Cyrus-" Kaira said before Nate cut her off. "It's Mr. Madavhi. You can't get that attached." Nate said, getting a not good look from Kaira. "Fine. Mr. Madavhi. He could go make a fortune working for Google or Microsoft. No, instead he risks his life fighting the bad guys. This is so our game." Hardison said, agreeing to the job with or without Nate. Kaira showed she had the same thought.</p><p>"He wasn't hit by the Vesarat." Eliot's familiar southern accent was heard. Nate and Hardison turned around as Kaira looked at Eliot, who also turned around, giving a smile to his wife. Eliot got up, walking to sit by Kaira as the boys turned to face him. "What, are you lurking?" Nate asked the hitter. Kaira chuckled, amused that Eliot was watching them as she took off his hood and fixed his messed up hair. "Yeah. I'm a lurker. It's my thing." Eliot said, brushing Kaira's hand away. Kaira backed off and held Eliot's hand under the table. "What's the Vezarat?" Hardison asked the couple. "Iranian secret police." Kaira answered. "And trust me, if they wanted Cyrus, he wouldn't be sitting here talking to us." Eliot finished Kaira's thought. "But the Vezarat is still our logical target. So we should check our sources and see if there's a safe house in the area." Nate said, agreeing to the job. "So we're on this?" Hardison asked. "Yeah, well, we were always on this. I just wanted you to explain to me why." Nate said, smiling at the hacker as he left. Eliot and Kaira smiled, amused they got played. "You know how I feel about mind games, Nate. Negatively." Hardison said, looking at Nate as he left, putting his fingers to his temples, mocking Hardison as he went out the door. Hardison was annoyed as he looked at the couple, who were smiling, amused. "What are you looking at, Lurker and Lurker 2?" Hardison said, causing Eliot to raise his eyebrow and smile.</p><p>Soon, they left as Hardison went to do some research. Kaira went to call Parker and Sophie in to make a plan, and Eliot went to call some sources to find any Vezarat safehouses in the area.</p><p>Soon, they had a location and a plan. Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira were acting as health inspectors, Sophie was a customer to get the owner to let them investigate, and Parker and Nate were on standby.</p><p>The hitter and hacker trio walked to the cafe where Eliot said there was a safehouse. "My sources say this café is the local Vezarat safehouse" Eliot said before they reached the café. "Look, sooners - they're gonna win every year. They win every year. Every year, every single year in Dallas, they're gonna win. Every time." Eliot said, walking into the café with Hardison and Kaira as Hardison tried to argue. "How you doing?" Kaira asked the guy who approached them, who was the manager. "Yes." The guy said. Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira flashed their Health Department badges. "Lloyd Hickey, Boston Health Department. Spot inspection." Eliot said, introducing his alias. "We were just inspected. Everything is in order here." The guy said. He spoke Farsi to one of his guys in the back. Eliot and Kaira caught a guy locking a door. Soon, Sophie was heard screaming, yelling in a Farsi accent about a cockroach in her food. Hardison acted like he was marking it down on his sheet. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Roach infestation in the Shish Leek. That's gonna cost you." Hardison said. "That's gonna cost you." Eliot said over top of Hardison, who was chewing gum. "Well, yeah-huh. Let's uh, have a look at that kitchen, shall we?" Hardison said. The manager lead him, speaking Farsi. "Backroom, East corner." Eliot reported as he stayed behind with Kaira to speak to Sophie. "Got it." Parker came across on comms. "Eliot. Kaira, get rid of it. Ugh!" Sophie whispered, causing the couple to stop. "I think he likes you." Eliot said, mock chuckling at Sophie. Sophie got up, not happy. "You're gonna pay for this." Sophie whispered to Eliot. Eliot muttered mockingly as Kaira picked up the roach and followed Sophie outside to get rid of the cockroach. She walked back in and met up with Eliot and Hardison, who said they had to speak to all the employees.</p><p>"At the East corner." Parker whispered. Parker dropped down from the air vent and got up on the floor. She looked around as Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira all were still talking. "For a den of evil spies, this place smells delicious. Hardison, confiscate some pastries." Parker said. A small smile left Hardison's lips as Parker walked to the computer. "Okay, so sign of Cyrus' hardware." Parker reported.</p><p>Nate was in the van outside the café. "Well, they could have cloned his data. Let's check their computer." Nate said.</p><p>Parker plugged in the USB as Eliot went to measure the temperature of the schwarma, yelling it was lukewarm, and said it docked him as he went ahead.</p><p>Kaira and Hardison looked at the Vesarat computer through his small laptop. "There's nothing on Manticore. I'm starting a syntax search." Hardison said as Eliot said about rat droppings.</p><p>Soon, Nate found something. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Hold it. That image on the, uh, the bottom left, there - Manticore. Um, it's a mythological creature. It's Persian for man eater." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison stopped scrolling and looked surprised Nate knew that. "Y-yeah, Yeah, I was - I was just about to click on that. What are you..." Hardison said, clicking on the image of what looked like the creature.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay, right. Sure. Okay. Let's uh, copy Cyrus' program." Nate ordered.</p><p>"We'd like to, Nathan, but it's not here. There's no indication they even heard of Cyrus." Kaira reported, slightly confused.</p><p>Parker found a book with the same symbol in the file cabinet and flipped through the pages. "Okay, I've got payment records here. Last one dated three weeks ago." Parker reported.</p><p>Eliot kept docking points as Hardison kept searching on the computer. "The last manticore update was also three weeks ago." Hardison reported, quietly.</p><p>"And who was that payment to?" Nate asked.</p><p>Hardison looked it up and whistled as he showed Kaira his screen. It was to a company called Dubertech. Hardison and Kaira got Eliot and they left. On the way back home, Hardison got his presentation set up.</p><p>The team gathered at the table in Nate's apartment as Hardison started his presentation. "Larry Duberman, Founder and CEO of Dubertech. Back in the '90s, He wrote the book on digital database security. Literally wrote the book." Hardison said as Eliot brought over a tea set. Kaira was confused but ignored it as Hardison showed the book.</p><p>"Now, he made a couple hundred million during the, uh, digital revolution." Hardison explained. Eliot was pouring water into the cup in front of Sophie. Kaira looked perplexed. "Why would Larry Duberman be selling software to Iran? I mean, he doesn't need the money." Sophie said. She put her hand on Eliot's shoulder, saying "Thanks, sugar."</p><p>"Oh, but he does. Cloud storage, distributed processing - see, all these sexy new little technologies are passing up Duberman's company. They're leaving him in the dust. He's got to expand his market share." Hardison explained. "Okay, so he sells the technology to embargoed countries, and the income is tax-free?" Nate asked as Eliot put sugar in Sophie's teacup.</p><p>"It's a nice way to keep the bottom line from being squeezed." Sophie said, touching Eliot's arm. "Now, Duberman has a long-term contract to run Manticore for Iran. This man has become the I.T Department for the axis of evil." Hardison said. "All right, so Eliot was right." Nate said. Kaira chuckled. "He usually is." Kaira quipped, smiling. Nate smiled back at the jack of trades. "The Vezarat didn't go after Cyrus, Duberman did." Nate said. "It's not about politics, man. Cyrus is bad business for him." Eliot said, squeezing a lemon in the cup, seemingly not noticing he was doing it.</p><p>Parker seemed to notice what was happening as she was eating. "Okay, well, so, Duberman's our target. What are we up against?" Nate said. Hardison switched the screen to show the blueprint for the building. "See, the master control server's in Duberman's private office. We shut down the server over here, we shut down Manticore over there." Hardison said. "So, get to hacking, man." Eliot said, unsure of the problem. "Babe, Hardison may be good, but even I don't think he can hack the server of the man who wrote the book on database security. We have to physically access the servers." Kaira said, with Hardison agreeing. "Any of you ever trimmed a bonsai?" Nate asked. The team was puzzled.</p><p>Eliot leaned past Kaira, whispering to Nate. "Well, you know, I did. I was in Osaka, and I met this Japanese policewoman at a geisha bar-" Eliot was about to go into that story when Nate cut him off. Nate clicked the remote. "Why is Eliot pouring you tea? Hmm? Did you brainwash him again?" Parker asked. Kaira moved to talk to the women as the boys talked. "Sophie, what the hell are you doing to my husband?" Kaira asked Sophie. "mm, neuro-linguistic programming. It's amazing what you can do with the power of suggestion. Sugar." Sophie did the motion. "Squeezed." Sophie rubbed her chin. "A few strategic pats on the arm." Sophie said as Sophie patted Eliot's arm, causing him to pour the water before Eliot realized. "Dammit." Eliot growled. "You owe me for that roach business!" Sophie defended herself. "Damn it! Sophie, not again." Eliot warned as Kaira couldn't help but chuckle as he grabbed the teacup and left. "Not funny, sweetheart!" Eliot growled, hearing Kaira laughing. "I'm sorry, baby. It's just too damn funny." Kaira started laughing. Eliot growled again. Kaira leaned into Sophie. "Can you teach me that Sophie so I can use it next time Eliot pisses me off?" Kaira whispered to Kaira. "Sophie, don't you dare be teaching my wife that!" Eliot was heard, coming back to the table. "Later." Sophie mouthed.</p><p>Kaira saw the look in Eliot's eye, saying he was gonna chase her, so she ran as the team laughed at the couple. The couple ended up running into their apartment, where Eliot grabbed her waist and lifted her up, placing her on the counter and tickled her, causing Kaira to laugh. "Eliot stop! I'm sorry." Kaira said, laughing at Eliot. Eliot backed off. He looked at Kaira and Kaira looked at him. "Come here." Eliot whispered as he placed a soft kiss on her lips, placing a hand on Kaira neck and pulling her towards him as he placed the other one on her thigh. Kaira placed both of her arms around Eliot's neck, holding some of his hair. Kaira let go and kissed Eliot. They chuckled at the moment they were in. Soon, they heard Nate at the door. "Guys, if you're done, we have a job to plan." Nate yelled through the door. Eliot and Kaira chuckled, knowing they had to leave. Eliot placed both hands on Kaira's ass and lifted her off the counter and kissed her again as he put her down. Kaira was all smiles as they joined the team and planned their covers for hitting Duberman's office.</p><p>The next day they put the plan into action. Eliot was gonna be a worker holding a bonsai plant, Parker and Hardison would hit the servers with Kaira joining them after she planted a bug on Duberman's assistant. Eliot walked up to Duberman and dumped into him, having Duberman hold the plant as Kaira walked by and bumped into the assistant and planted the bug on his collar. Eliot ran into Duberman, getting him dirty. Duberman fired Eliot as the assistant and security took Eliot out of the building as Kaira walked past, putting the bug on his collar. Hardison and Parker walked over with the cleaning stuff and Parker used a towel to grab his card as Hardison grabbed the bonsai. Parker used tape to get Duberman's prints as the trio of Hardison, Parker, and Kaira walked through the building to get to the server.</p><p>The hall leading up to it was full of Japanese items. Hardison swiped the card and Parker put the print on the sensor and opened the door. They walked in and the room was full of high school memorabilia. "Whoa." Parker said, surprised by the items. "Seems we stepped out of Japan and straight into high school." Hardison said, starting to look around the room. "Yeah, in 1985." Kaira quipped. "You find the server running Manticore?" Nate asked from base with Sophie next to him. "Oh, I found it. A small problem." Hardison said as Kaira noticed the really old computer that was hooked up. "Duberman is running Manticore from his high school computer, Nathan." Kaira reported, still shocked. Parker grabbed the floppy disk. Hardison got to work as Parker and Kaira searched the room, starting at the desk. "Vintage 1980's technology, man. No wonder I couldn't hack in from the outside. It's speaking a dead language." Hardison said. Parker and Kaira heard that there was a breach through the comm. "Hey, they're onto us. What's the deal?" Parker asked. "Well, he's got a multi-tier password system. Now, my war-dialer broke into the first few. uh... "Zavransky, MandyDD, and a bunch of other random ones." Hardison said. Kaira and Parker walked over as the last password was denied, but the others were cracked. The computer beeped. "Was that a good beep or a bad beep?" Parker asked. "Oh, that's a bad beep. We just hit a wall." Hardison said as Parker and Karia turned. "You didn't get the passowrd?" Nate asked. "Not the master one. The last one I got it... L33R15L06." Hardison said. "High school." Nate and Sophie said at the same time. Parker and Kaira kept looking as Hardison still worked on his laptop. "Let's go!" Parker ordered, going to leave. Kaira saw that Hardison didn't move. "Hold on, let me just finish copying this disk. How did people get anything done in the 80s?" Hardison said. He finished copying the disk and gathered up his things as Parker and Kaira left.</p><p>They hid behind some Japanese armor and waited till security was focused on the room. They made their escape and met up with the rest of the gang back at the bar.</p><p>They all sat at a table with beer and drinks in front of them. Kaira sat on Eliot's lap. "Nobody else thinks it's weird that you can just buy anybody's yearbook online?" Eliot asked. "It's weird." Kaira responded, taking a sip of her beer. "You know, it's real cute, man, how you still believe in privacy." Hardison said. "You know, Thomas Hobbs and John Lock shared the idea of a social contract, where individuals would willingly give up individual freedoms if it meant the betterment of the people." Kaira said. The team looked at her weird. "What? High school history." Kaira answered, taking another sip of her beer. "Here we go." Nate said, getting the team back on track. "Uh, Mrs. Zavransky, math teacher. Now I bet if we turn to the cheerleaders...Yes. Oh, Mandy." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira looked over at the picture along with Eliot. "Yep. Double D all right." Kaira quipped as Hardison whispered. "Mandy Babson." Nate said. "What does the DD mean?" Parker asked. "Yeah, right." Eliot said, sarcastically. "Seriously?" Nate questioned Parker. "Uh..." Hardison stumbled. "Two scoops of ice cream - just perfect." Hardison said. "Come on, it's, uh..." Nate was about to say before Kaira cut him off. "Boobs, Parker. "DD" is her boob size." Kaira blurted out, causing the team to look at her in shock that she said that. "What? You men are so immature sometimes." Kaira said, taking another sip of her beer. "You married one of them." Eliot whispered in Kaira's ear. "I know." Kaira gave a smirk before Nate continued.</p><p>"It was the last password that tipped us off - L33R15L06. Now that has to be a locker combination, right? He's clearly - he's obsessed with high school - memorabilia, his high school computer." Nate said. "Yeah, he's a classic computer nerd. Sorry." Sophie said, saying sorry to Hardison. Eliot chuckled. "Yeah, the girls totally ignored him. The guys picked on him. Now that he's a success, he- he can't leave the past behind him." Sophie explained. "Yeah, he has to remember who he was cause it made him who he is." Nate said. "So he has an inferiority complex. He believed for so long that he was inferior, he'll do anything to get people to see him as superior." Kaira said, putting the pieces together. "Yes. How do you know that?" Nate asked Kaira. "I read." Kaira answered, brushing off the question. "Aw, I feel bad for the nerd." Parker said. "Don't feel bad for this guy. Getting bullied in high school is still no excuse for propping up dictators. Well, take Hardison. He got bullied his whole high school career. He's not criminal." Eliot said. Kaira looked at Eliot. "I was bullied too, and I'm a criminal." Kaira said.</p><p>"Um.. don't think about that." Sophie said as Parker spoke overtop of her. "Yeah, they are." Parker said. "Not a bad criminal." Eliot said. Kaira smiled as she took another sip of beer. "Hey, what makes you think I got bullied in high school?" Hardison asked. "Well, "A", you got a Green Hornet doll." Eliot said, getting annoyed with the hacker. "Well, first of all, it's a limited edition action figure. Second, it is Green Lantern. Kaira, educate your husband." Hardison said as Kaira smiled and Eliot said, "Wow." Nate got them back on track. "We got a locker combination, we have a teacher's name, and we have a crush. So, Duberman, he has made his old high school his Roman room." Nate said. "Of course." Parker said. "Of course? What's a Roman room?" Nate asked the thief, not sure if she actually knew. Parker was silent. "You have no idea, right? You know-" Nate said as Parker said no. "It's a memory technique of sorts. Each of Duberman's passwords corresponds with an object in a space where he was familiar. In Duberman's case, it's the hallway his high school locker was." Kaira explained. "Now, if I were to make this bar my Roman room, everything I need to remember is right here. For instance," Nate said. He stood up and walked to the bar.</p><p>"This, uh... my bank password would be Balmoor." Nate said, grabbing a bottle. "And my e-mail password would be Fitzy, here." Nate said, patting the guy standing beside him on his shoulder. Parker and Hardison leaned in as Nate poured him a glass. "Hey. Nate just gave us all his passwords." Parker whispered. "No, but I got all his passwords. You want to see his Netflix queue? He's got like, every season of <em>Rockford Files</em>, every season of <em>Sex and the City</em>, that show <em>Psych</em>." Hardison said. Just then, Nate came over, coming in between them. "Hey, so, so, listen, if we can't get into the main server without Duberman's master password - I mean, you can't hack into that, right?" Nate said, turning to Hardison. "No, password's up in the guy's head. I can't hack a guy's head." Hardison said. "So the only option would be to break inside his Roman Room." Nate realized. "You want to break into the high school?" Parker questioned, scoffing. "I could do that blindfolded. Yeah. Let's do it blindfolded." Parker said, missing the idea. "No, no, no. What we're gonna do is we're gonna break into that high school... 25 years ago." Nate said as Hardison started looking on his phone. He chuckled. "What do you know? Class of '85 has a reunion coming up...in 8 months." Hardison revealed. "That's too late." Kaira pointed out as Nate looked at Sophie, knowing what she needed to do before leaving.</p><p>The team followed behind and Kaira and Sophie faked several phone calls to set up that the reunion was happening on the 28th, which was next week. Sophie called Larry later to get him to the reunion.</p><p>The following week, after some planning, the reunion was underway. Parker was helping with the decorations, and Hardison and Nate were in the van, Eliot and Kaira waited to be told to go to the computer at Duberman's office, and Sophie was getting in her cover.</p><p>Parker put up a security camera on the stage for Hardison and walked over to the board with pictures. "Ooh. So many awkward people in so many ugly outfits." Parker said, weirded out.</p><p>"Yeah, you're lucky you never went to high school. Nothing but heartbreak and homework." Hardison said.</p><p>"Amen to that." Kaira quipped, standing next to Eliot, waiting to go in.</p><p>"Didn't you go to your prom?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Uh... I was kind of busy." Hardison said, pausing to reminisce. "Good times." Hardison said, sipping his orange soda.</p><p>"I went to my prom but left partway because my ex, you know who decided to punch a guy who wanted to dance with me. He was very possessive. Glad I dumped his ass." Kaira said, watching Eliot put on his gloves as Kaira put on hers.</p><p>"I'm sorry." Parker said, feeling bad for Kaira.</p><p>"It's okay." Kaira said, smiling at the concern of the thief. "So, you guys all get to go to the reunion, and I'm stuck on goon patrol?" Eliot quipped. "Babe, I'm here too, you know." Kaira said, smacking Eliot's arm. She and Eliot hugged the wall to avoid getting spotted by the people walking outside.</p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, listen. Once we get that password, you got to enter it on Duberman's computer and destroy Manticore. Hardison's a little occupied." Nate said. "Besides, I'm sure you already had your high-school fun. Big man on campus. What, quarterback?" Hardison questioned the hitter.</p><p>Eliot was thinking. "I had many interests." Eliot said. He put his hood up and waited for the assistant to come closer and then knocked him out.</p><p>"What about you Kaira, what was high school like?" Hardison asked as Eliot and Kaira looked over the downed goon.</p><p>"Oh, I became the cool girl on campus once people figured out the connections I had. Other than that, it wasn't entirely pleasant. But, I did learn a thing or two so that helped." Kaira said as Eliot grabbed the card to get in the building and the couple then dragged the body.</p><p>"You telling me you didn't have guys swarming you?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Surprisingly not. I mean, I'd like to think I was pretty." Kaira said as she tossed the briefcase she grabbed and jogged inside with Eliot.</p><p>Parker walked by Larry with a badger costume. Sophie buttered up Duberman, showing him the yearbook that Hardison edited. Then Nate walked in as Drake McIntyre. Hardison guided Nate through some interactions as Eliot and Kaira got into the Roman room and were at the computer, waiting for the password. Sophie got Duberman away from the action and mentioned the homeroom and Duberman said about a kid who gave him a wedgie in front of the class. "Pat Brander." Sophie repeated, signaling to try that as a password.</p><p>"Let's check out Brander." Eliot said. He typed it on the computer. "Nope." Kaira said, seeing that the password was incorrect.</p><p>"Okay, look, try "Brander303". That's the room number." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot typed in that password. "All right, it looks like it's unlocked." Eliot said. Then the computer beeped more, revealing payroll files. "It's payroll files." Eliot said, a hint of impatience in his voice.</p><p>"All right guy, patience. If we get him riled up, push his buttons, he'll lead us to the password we want." Nate said. He went up to talk with Sophie and Duberman, getting him riled up. Duberman revealed that Drake had told a crush of his that he was a hermaphrodite.</p><p>"Tuttleton." Eliot said, typing it on the laptop. It was declined. "No. You want me to try hermaphrodite?" Eliot asked. Kaira gave him a look that told him no.</p><p>Just then another female voice was heard, talking with Duberman, but then Nate butted in, flirting his way in. "He reveled her name was "Nikki".</p><p>"Got to be kidding me. Guys, um, look. There's like six Nicoles, three Veronicas, and a Dominique. This may take a while." Hardison said.</p><p>He was typing along as Nate tried to get "Nikki" away from Duberman, with Nikki revealing she was a cheerleader and that "Drake" saw her without her uniform on.</p><p>Kaira tried to not say anything as Sophie tried to not react to break cover. Then Kaira heard Nate and Nikki making out as Kaira tried not to laugh at Nate. But then some grunting happened, and Nate called out to Nikki.</p><p>"Your, uh, luck get turned around there, Drake." Kaira couldn't help but tease.</p><p>"Not funny." Nate muttered as he composed himself in the closet. "Parker, it seems my... ex-flame has... locked me in the... I don't know - storage closet or something in the east hallway, so..." Nate said, getting his breath back.</p><p>"She take your breath away old man?" Kaira teased again.</p><p>"Kiddo." Nate warned her to stop.</p><p>"Wow. You must have really broken her heart. High school is so dramatic!" Parker said, on her way.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira looked around the room. Eliot was looking at the trophies on a case on the wall. "They give trophies for chess." Eliot said. Kaira and Eliot both perked up when drilling was heard and men speaking Farsi. There were bright sparks where the men were blow torching the metal doors in the room. "It's the Vezarat. They're coming in!" Eliot reported, yelling over the noise.</p><p>"Wait a minute. What are the Iranians doing there?" Nate asked.</p><p>Parker picked the lock to the door and Nate thanked her. Sophie then ran up to Nate and Parker as they were walking down the hallway. "What happened? He got away?" Nate asked Sophie. "She took him - that - that- that bloody little slut!" Sophie said, getting heated. "All right, calm down, now." Nate said, trying to calm Sophie down. "No, just because I'm not a cheerleader or something-" Sophie said, starting to rant. "All right, l-let's forget about her, all right? Eliot and Kaira have company, and we're no closer to getting the password, so I think we need to escalate." Nate said. "Well, you think he's ready?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Uh, guys? I've accounted for all the Nikkis, of the class of '85. Your Nikki's not even in the yearbook." Hardison reported.</p><p>"Okay, so she's a fraud like us?" Parker questioned. "What is she, just some random hussy who's out for his cash?" Sophie asked.</p><p>Hardison's computer started beeping rapidly, revealing some not so pleasant information. "Not exactly. She's a hired gun." Hardison revealed.</p><p>"An assassin? Nikki's an assassin?" Sophie questioned, surprised at the information.</p><p>"Yeah, I guess we weren't the only ones with the bright idea to pose as alumni. This chick's connected to wet work jobs all up and down the east coast. Russian Mob, Italian mob - There's a New Zealand mob?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"All right, this is our fault." Nate said. "I didn't do anything." Parker said. "We lured him to a non-secured environment. We exposed him." Sophie said. "And now we have to save him. We can't destroy Manticore with him dead. So split up and find him." Nate ordered. Sophie and Parker split to find Duberman and the assassin. "Eliot, Kaira, what's happening on your end?" Nate asked.</p><p>The men were close to cutting through. "Five seconds till contact." Kaira reported. "This reunion sucks!" Eliot said loudly. There was a hole left once the torch was out and the piece fell. Eliot and Kaira got ready to fight as the guy from the café poked his head in the hole. "The Health Inspectors?" The owner of the café questioned, confused. "I'm gonna have to dock you again." Eliot quipped, shrugging his shoulders. The leader opened the door and pulled out a gun, which Eliot disarmed and quickly knocked out as Eliot went to work on the other guy and Kaira went to work on the third guy that had come, blocking his punch, then punching him back.</p><p>"Yeah, Duberman must have pissed off the Iranians. They hired an assassin to take him out while they raid his office? Eliot, Kaira, you've got to keep 'em away from that computer." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot had his guy in a lock. "What do you think we're doing?!" Eliot growled. Eliot finished off the goon he had locked and double teamed with Kaira to take the last goon out with a trophy. Eliot looked at the trophy he was holding. "Checkmate." Eliot said, throwing the trophy down. Then Kaira and Eliot heard boned cracking and knew the lead goon had gotten up. "Or not." Kaira groaned. Eliot and Kaira started fighting the lead goon, but then Eliot got tackled as Sophie dealt with the assassin.</p><p>Nate stopped the assassin from killing Duberman, getting in between them as Parker tased her. Then Duberman drew the gun on Nate, revealing that Pat Brander he had been talking about was a woman, not a man as Nate had been assuming. Of course, Duberman asked who they were. Sophie came out with her hands up as she stood by Nate. "Are you the real Grace Peltz?" Duberman asked Sophie. "There is no Grace Peltz. She's a fiction invented to flatter your ego." Sophie revealed, putting her hands down. "So you're with that assassin? You're all trying to kill me?" Duberman asked. "No, no, no, we're not trying to kill you - just your business. Yes, on behalf of Cyrus Madavhi - that kid you had beaten and robbed so that you could continue to sell Manticore to Iran." Nate said. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm calling the police." Duberman said, getting out his phone. "Well, don't bother. We already did and they should be on their way just as soon as our men inside your office destroys Manticore using your password." Nate said. Duberman scoffed. "Oh, you couldn't possibly -" Duberman said, dismissing the idea. "It was pretty easy to figure out once we got inside this hallway." Nate said. "Zavransky... Mandy Double-D, your locker combination?" Sophie said. "You're smart..." Duberman said, getting out his phone. "But you're not smart enough. It's changed." Duberman said, putting his phone away. "All your work for nothing, Fake Drake." Duberman said, still training the gun on Nate. "Yeah, it's done." Nate said.</p><p>"Good to know." Eliot said, straining from being choked. Kaira was on top of the guy, arms around his neck. Kaira dropped as Eliot knocked him out and used the trophy nearby again to knock the gun out of the goon's hand, then clocked him in the face with it. Eliot slammed his guy on the ground, breaking the goon's hand. The guy was yelling and Eliot told him to shut up. He walked over to the computer and typed in the password, 'Badger85'. "All right, I'm in. Now what?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Okay, good. De-authorize and delete all directories, just like I showed you." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot went to type it in, but one of the goons came back up. Kaira elbowed him and he went down. She shrugged her shoulders at Eliot and he typed on the keyboard. "It's done." Eliot said. "Manticore is finished." Kaira reported. Eliot and Kaira left the office.</p><p>Duberman's phone started beeping rapidly. "That's not possible. I changed the password. This is another trick." Duberman said, not believing Manticore was down. "Is it? Or is it Badger85?" Nate asked. "That's the new password! But I just changed it! How could you know it?!" Duberman questioned Nate and Sophie. "Well, you know, it turns out, just like high school, you can be pushed around." Nate said. Kaira flashed back to Sophie using neurolinguistic programming on Eliot, which they then used on Duberman with various phrases that they said to Duberman. "You - you hacked me? You got inside my head?!" Duberman questioned. He started stammering and running. "We did save your life!" Nate said.</p><p>Soon the FBI arrested Duberman. Soon after that fiasco, Sophie and Nate walked around the gym.</p><p>"I suppose the FBI received an anonymous tip." Sophie said, knowing already what happened. "Well, yeah, I mean, between the files that Eliot and Kaira just e-mailed them..." Nate said. "And the ledger from the café..." Sophie added. "Duberman's looking at a lot of time in detention." Nate said. "And with Manticore gone, Cyrus' people are one step closer to freedom." Sophie said. Hardison was grabbing his cameras. "I already told Cyrus Manticore's destroyed. I'm sure he's spreading the good news right now." Hardison said. Sophie and Nate did one last check of the gym. "Well, I think it's time we graduate." Sophie said. Nate agreed, but the announcers said that the votes had come in for the reunion king and queen, which the winners were Nate and Sophie's aliases. Nate and Sophie were pushed to the center. "Um... uh, very funny, Hardison." Nate said, not amused.</p><p>"Oh, you think I did this? Naw, man, I don't rig elections. I mean, I could, but..." Hardison said.</p><p>"Parker... was this you?" Sophie whispered, accusing the thief.</p><p>"I didn't even know they had kings and queens in high school." Parker said, hanging from the ceiling, ready to clear out.</p><p>"Yeah, um... I guess it was a good con." Nate said as a crown was put on Sophie. "Uh... Hardison, why don't you maybe." Nate started chuckling as soft romantic music started. "Set off a fire alarm about now?" Nate asked as the lights went out.</p><p>"You two enjoy this, you earned it." Hardison said.</p><p>Nate and Sophie just kinda stood, unsure what to do. "So, uh..." Nate said, unsure. "So, I..." Sophie said as they got in hold to slow dance. "So you think we would have, uh... been a couple in high school?" Nate asked Sophie. "Who? Grace Peltz and the great Drake McIntyre? Mnh-mnh. Don't think so." Sophie said. "No, no. Nate Ford and..." Nate said, implying Sophie's unknown name. "And..." Sophie questioned. "And..." Nate tried to say before shushing Nate, wanting to enjoy the moment. Small smiles appeared on their faces as they danced.</p><p>Hardison looked at Parker up on the ceiling. "May I have this dance, Miss?" Hardison asked Parker as she rappelled down. Hardison held Parker, standing her on his toes. "So this is what high school was like, huh?" Parker asked. "Yeah... pretty much." Hardison said, enjoying the moment.</p><p>Eliot rushed out of Duberman's office and was outside with Kaira a bit behind still inside the building, watching Eliot. "Hello? Everybody having a good time at the dance? Anybody wonder if Eliot made it out?" Eliot growled before knocking the assistant out again. "Does anybody wonder if Eliot's alive?" Eliot asked, annoyed. Kaira walked out. "Babe, calm down. They know we're alive." Kaira said, making her way to Eliot. She could still hear the music playing through the comm, so she knew Eliot did too. Eliot smiled as he turned around, hearing his wife's voice. He extended a hand to Kaira and chuckled. "Can I have this dance, pretty lady?" Eliot questioned, messing around a bit. Kaira chuckled and grinned. "Why yes you can, handsome cowboy." Kaira joked back as she grabbed Eliot's hand. They held each other and swayed to the music, Kaira standing on Eliot's feet as he led. Kaira just closed her eyes as Eliot swayed with Kaira to the music.</p><p>Hardison did have a point. They needed this quiet moment to soak in the job well done. God knows this was the eye of the hurricane that was brewing in the distance. So at this moment in time, Kaira was gonna dance with her husband. And Eliot was gonna dance with his wife. Even if we was grumpy at the team. They couldn't pass up this moment. Just three couples in love, one couple not knowing it, one couple not understanding it, and one couple who embraced it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! So something I wanted to do at the start of season 3, but forgot until now, was I had planned on showcasing a Leverage edit each chapter so I can share other people's creativity and hard work. So, since I forgot in the 1st episode, I'll start now. </p><p>  https://youtu.be/9hNOTQpLsUs </p><p>This is actually one of my favorite edits I've seen, partially because the centerpiece is one of my favorite scenes, which of course is the gunfight scene from The Big Bang Job. </p><p>With that out of the way, I want to thank you all for all the love you've shown! Love you all! I'm really proud of this series and all I've done with it! Just one more thing before I end this chapter. On December 5, 2020 I am going to post the 1st chapter of my other fanfiction book Mariah and the Phoenix Foundation (A Macgyver reboot Fanfiction Sequel) is going up. If you wish, you can also check out The Scoundrel and the Beauty (A Macgyver Reboot Fanfiction). Remember to share this chapter and comment anything you'd like to see or know! Much love to you all! Stay Safe!<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. The Inside Job (3x3)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's all hands on deck when Nate gets a call from a stranger, warning him that Parker took on an outside job and is in trouble. The building Parker tried to crack has a Steranko security system, one of the toughest systems to crack. With Parker on the line, the team must pull out all their tricks to save their thief.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! I hope you like this chapter! I'm super excited to see how far this book has come! I am honestly amazed at how well this book has done. I know I'm not the best writer ever, but if there's one thing I'll admit is that this book is my greatest achievement! With that out of the way, here is chapter 3 of season 3 of Leverage!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eliot and Kaira were just laying in bed, not really wanting to get up, when Eliot's phone rang. "Yeah." Eliot answered the phone. "What?" Eliot questioned, causing the both of them to perk up. "All right, send the addresses, I'll have Hardison help find Parker's place." Eliot said, hanging up the phone and shooting out of bed. "Eliot what is it?" Kaira asked Eliot as they got changed. "Apparently Parker took on an outside job without us." Eliot said, growling in frustration. "What?" Kaira questioned, also upset. "Yeah." Eliot said.</p><p>The couple finished changing. They all but ran next door where Hardison was and looked at the addresses Nate sent. Only one of the two addresses left could be Parkers place.</p><p>When the trio went to check one out, it was the wrong one. So, they went to the other one, which was a warehouse in the city. They saw the door had been unlocked, so they assumed Nate and Sophie had already shown up. They ran in and saw Nate and Sophie looking at the very little things that were in the warehouse. A bed, a couple of clothes racks for Parkers gear, and a couple of tables.</p><p>"Parker!" Hardison called out, thinking Parker was there. "Okay. This is a little freaky." Hardison said, surprised at Parker's choice of housing.</p><p>"Really? This is exactly what I expected." Eliot said, not surprised.</p><p>"What happened to you guys? You should've beaten us here." Nate said, looking at a board that Parker put stuff on.</p><p>"We went to the wrong address." Eliot said, uncomfortable at the remembrance.</p><p>"Oh, the central square address?" Sophie questioned.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, the central..." Hardison started stumbling. "Yeah, the Ce-Central Square... I tracked your phone." Hardison admitted, not wanting to think about the awkward encounter anymore.</p><p>"All right. Listen. She left timetables, security codes, schematics. Now, let's look at all this stuff and see where she went and what she's after." Nate said, handing papers to the other team members as they gathered around the table.</p><p>"God, this is so well organized. She's got everything laid out just so. You know this is as clean as one of your plans." Sophie pointed out, looking at Nate.</p><p>"Yeah. Maybe you're rubbing off on her, Nate." Eliot quipped. "Well, I doubt I'm rubbing off on her. She never would have tried to beat a..." Nate said, handing the trio a paper.</p><p>"Steranko?" Hardison questioned.</p><p>"A Steranko." Nate said."Damn it! On her own? What the hell was she thinking?!" Kaira exclaimed upset."Okay, please, please. Somebody explain to me - what the hell is a Steranko?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Steranko's the toughest security system in the world, in the universe, the multi - whatever." Hardison was about to explain when Eliot cut him off.</p><p>"How do you not know this?" Eliot asked Sophie</p><p>"I am a grifter. If I'm doing my job right, then the mark just..." Sophie clicked her tongue and mimed turned the alarm off. "Turns off the alarm for me." Sophie said.</p><p>"Look, Soph, you take one of those computers that can beat like 100 people at chess, it's got a brain the size of a building, you hook it up to military-grade infrared, ultrasound, motion sensors..." Hardison started spiraling.</p><p>"Yeah, and then give it the personality of a pissed-off Rottweiler. That's a Steranko." Eliot finished.</p><p>"Yeah. It's bad." Kaira said, not liking the situation.</p><p>"It has a heuristic algorithm. Okay? It adapts to your moves and evolves a strategy based on your response. It learns." Hardison said.</p><p>"It hunts." Eliot said.</p><p>"Can you crack it?" Nate asked Hardison, looking at the clear board.</p><p>"Can I crack - Nate - Steranko's like Mount Everest. You don't just jump on it. You - you gotta train, muscle up." Hardison said as Nate walked back over to the table.</p><p>"No, no, no, no. Hardison, no, no. For Parker, can you crack it?" Nate asked, reframing the question to convince Hardison to do it.</p><p>"Yeah, I-I can... Even if I tried - Just tried - I can't do it remote. I'd have to get in that building." Hardison said.</p><p>"Okay, so we get you in, you open the doors for Parker, she goes out." Nate said.</p><p>"Nathan, one more problem. Where the hell is Parker at?" Kaira questioned, knowing they had to find that answer before they could even attempt a rescue.</p><p>Nate walked over to the board and grabbed a picture. "The Wakefield building downtown. So... Let's go steal a Parker." Nate ordered. They put the stuff down as they exited the warehouse, the lights going out behind them.</p><p>They piled in the van and drove to Wakefield Agricultural Incorporated. Sophie was out of the van as Nate looked through the binoculars and Hardison exited the van.</p><p>"Wakefield Agriculture Worldwide Incorporated. Now, Wakefield's a big player in the world cereal market, and by cereal I mean wheat, corn, rice - all that stuff." Hardison said, handing a folder to Sophie.</p><p>"So it's a grocery store." Sophie said. Hardison wasn't impressed.</p><p>"Yeah, if Godzilla's a gecko. They do 200 million dollars a year in biotech research and third-world infrastructure." Hardison continued explaining.</p><p>"All right, so it's a massive grocery store." Sophie said, not amused.</p><p>"Yeah, but even they weren't immune to the Financial Crunch. The last two years, they did a bunch of bad investments, research that turned up empty. This guy right here, CEO Charles Rushing - the boards after his head. Now, he avoided two takeover attempts, but he's running scared." Hardison finished explaining.</p><p>"We just swept the perimeter. Lobby's the only point of entry. Everything else is locked down. And I gotta tell you, man, I ain't big on taking this place in broad daylight, on the fly." Eliot said, joining the team with Kaira in tow</p><p>"What do you mean you ain't big on taking - No, no, no. You just want to throw Parker under the bus?" Hardison asked Eliot, not happy and getting in his face, which caused an argument.</p><p>"Stop! Both of you before I smack you." Kaira threatened as both boys instantly shut up. "Now, Hardison, of course, we want to get Parker out. But we have to be smart about it. It does no one any good if we get caught." Kaira said, looking the hacker in the eyes.</p><p>Nate also got in between them. "If you're gonna do a job like this, you'd need a... a base camp, right? Something kind of private with good visibility?" Nate asked</p><p>"And a partner, cause I ain't insane." Eliot said, growling. Kaira gave him a look telling him to stop.</p><p>"Yeah, exactly. You'd want a partner, right? But, I mean, all the shots from Parker's place, they were taken from a single location up high." Nate said, thinking</p><p>"It's the south side. Look at the way the sun's going off the windows there. According to this height-" Eliot was about to explain when Nate cut him off.</p><p>"Wait. On the building. He said on - on the building across the street. Not in. All right, Eliot, Kaira, you're gonna come with me. Sophie, walk Hardison into Wakefield so you can get your hands on the Steranko." Nate said, giving the skeletal work for a plan.</p><p>"That's the plan?" Sophie asked, not liking now little of the plan had been made.</p><p>"It's all I got." Nate said, going to leave. Eliot and Kaira followed him.</p><p>"Nate, I keep telling you, man, this - Fine. Whatever. Forget it. Forget it." Hardison called out, not happy with how little of a plan had been made.</p><p>"It's fine. We can do this. Parker's gonna be okay." Sophie said. She went into the van, grabbing something.</p><p>"Yeah, I know. Quiet and sneaky - standard." Hardison said.</p><p>"Quiet and sneaky is fine if you're not thinking like a thief. Thieves find entrances, but grifters? Mnh-mnh. We make them." Sophie said, revealing two outfits for her and Hardison. Sophie handed one to Hardison and make their way in as Nate, Eliot, and Kaira walked up to the roof of the building.</p><p>"It's got to be the right roof." Nate said.</p><p>"Well, you got a clear line of sight to the Wakefield tower." Eliot said.</p><p>"Good place to watch a heist." Kaira said, continuing to walk.</p><p>"Nobody can get past us-" Eliot said just before an older man with grey hair came around the corner, cane in hand.</p><p>"Nate Ford." The man said, having an English accent</p><p>"Lisbon." Nate said, recognizing the guy.</p><p>"I think... Florence." The man said, walking through them.</p><p>"You know this guy." Eliot realized.</p><p>"Mr. Ford and I once moved in similar spheres. It was Majorca." The man said, looking back at the trio.</p><p>"Right. White doves. Eliot, Kaira, I'd like you to meet Archie Leech, the world's greatest thief." Nate said as two guys came around the corner, putting guns at the trio and cocked them, causing the hitter duo to tense up. Nate nodded to the hitter duo, who took the signal as Kaira went to disarm the guy behind her as Eliot disarmed his guy.</p><p>Kaira took down her guy, but Eliot's was stubborn. "Come here, boy." Eliot taunted, getting ready to punch the guy.</p><p>"Pardon me, sir!" Archie said. The guy went to punch Archie, but he used the cane to block him and swept his feet out, causing the guy to fall. "Well..." Archie said.</p><p>"Nice." Eliot said, complimenting Archie as he caught his breath and joined Kaira next to Nate.</p><p>"Those guys weren't with you?" Nate asked.</p><p>Archie chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous." Archie said as Kaira kicked the downed goon in the face, knocking him out. "They're here to make sure I get the job done. I'm their hostage. Barely got away from them long enough to call you." Archie revealed.</p><p>"Parker's your partner." Nate realized.</p><p>"Parker... is rescuing me." Archie said.</p><p>"Why would she rescue you?" Eliot asked Archie.</p><p>"Because I'm her father." Archie blurted out, leaving.</p><p>"What?" Kaira asked, following a stumbling Eliot and a calm but cool Nate.</p><p>Sophie and Hardison got into a meeting room, and all but threatened the CEO and got Hardison an office</p><p>Eliot and Kaira moved the two downed bodies as Archie and Nate walked. "Of course, I'm not her real father. New York City, 12 years ago. The little scamp lifted my wallet. When I first met her, she was wild, dangerous to herself and to others. But she had the gift." Archie explained as they went on the platform Eliot and Kaira were on, hiding the bodies. "I made her, honed her - my perfect thief." Archie said.</p><p>"She was your legacy." Nate realized.</p><p>"Just so. I taught her everything I know and unleashed her on the world." Archie said, thinking there was nothing wrong with that.</p><p>"You know, she was broken. You understand that? Parker was broken, and you had no- you should have taken her in-" Nate said, defending Parker.</p><p>"What? Taken her home like a real daughter?" Archie questioned. He let his cane drop and grabbed his wallet and showed Nate a picture of an older and younger woman and young boys. "This is my wife, Marilyn. My grandsons. I love them dearly. They think I'm an accountant. What was I supposed to do? You know Parker. You know she wouldn't fit in. God, she doesn't fit in anywhere." Archie said.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot both got pissed at that sentence. "Yeah, but she was good enough to send into a deathtrap, huh?" Eliot questioned, pissed.</p><p>"I didn't send her anywhere. I was retired. They found me, whoever they are. Told me to break into Wakefield and steal some canister from the labs there or they would kill my family. My grandchildren." Archie explained, showing the map that was pinned up.</p><p>"You couldn't beat a Steranko even in your prime." Nate said, adding insult to injury</p><p>"Which I'm long past. Thanks for the reminder. But my employer gave me these blueprints and most of the codes. So I thought I could break the bloody thing! I called Parker for help, just to plan. Next thing I know, she jumps the gun and goes in herself. No idea what she was thinking." Archie said.</p><p>Kaira had an idea. "She was trying to save your ass, you selfish dick." Kaira retorted, showing Archie she wasn't happy.</p><p>"All right. Listen. I need you to get in position. When Hardison finds a door, I'm counting on you two to get her through it." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot left to get ready to get Parker out.</p><p>"Okay, Hardison. Are we on yet?" Nate asked in his comm.</p><p>"On and cracking." Hardison said from the office, opening a big case. "I'm in the main company system." Hardison said. Nate grabbed an earbud and handed it to Archie. "Put this in your ear." Nate told Archie. "Ah." Archie said, taking the earbud. "Now, you get that back to me." Nate said, circling Archie.</p><p>"I'm downloading all files... now." Hardison said.</p><p>"Okay. What about the Steranko?" Nate asked as Archie was still trying to understand what the plan was.</p><p>Hardison was scanning the wall. "All the alarm systems are run through shielded cable, which means I can't hack it through wi-fi. But if you find the actual cable..." Hardison said. He found the right cable and started drilling, placing a wire in the hole he made. Hardison got the cord hooked up to his laptop. "All right. I'm in. Uh, don't know how far, though." Hardison said, getting ready on his laptop.</p><p>Nate was still pacing as Archie was thinking. "Okay. Get what you can and fast. Sophie." Nate ordered.</p><p>"What are we doing here?" Sophie asked in the meeting room with all of the heads of staff and the higher-ups.</p><p>"You want to create some chaos. All right? Get them to focus on you, on each other, but just get them off Hardison's back." Nate said.</p><p>Sophie basically fired all the staff, but one of the staff called Sophie out, a Dr. Hannity, and Sophie countered by saying if they could convince her to rehire them, they could keep their job, which caused a commotion.</p><p>"Okay, guys, uh... I got bad news and not so bad news. The not so bad news is that Steranko's only running at a level one." Hardison informed them, still at his laptop.</p><p>"How many levels are there?" Nate asked.</p><p>Hardison pulled it up. "Okay, uh, level one, passive lockdown. Two, fire. Three, terrorist takeover. And four, hazmat containment breach. Now, if it stays at a level one, she just needs to stay away from doors, cameras, uh, security key cards, even actual security guards. And she'll be cool - for a while." Hardison said.</p><p>"So, she's safe as long as she stays in, but if she tried to get out -" Nate said, thinking of a plan.</p><p>"Boom. Game over. That's the bad news." Hardison said.</p><p>"It's a lobster trap." Eliot said, walking with Kaira outside the building. "Easy to get in, but there's no way out." Kaira said.</p><p>"And this helps me how?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"And what about the perimeter?" Nate asked, leaning on a huge crate.</p><p>"Perimeter's locked down tight. It's a solid grid. Right? You got sensors. You got cameras on everything." Eliot said before stopping, looking at the building, which caused Kaira to look at it, giving her an idea. "What's the bet that these suit types don't like giving up their privacy?" Kaira asked, giving Eliot an idea. "You're gonna find a blank on one of these offices." Eliot said.</p><p>"That's actually not... bad." Hardison realized.</p><p>"All right, guys. So it's a party. But before we rescue Parker, we got to find out where she is." Nate said, looking at the pinned up map.</p><p>"Nate... you do realize the entire building is looking for Parker. I mean, the actual physical building is looking for her. Look, a-any cameras that I piggyback, any sensors that I access, anything I do to find Parker could lead the bad guys right to her." Hardison explained.</p><p>"All right. So what's you play?" Nate asked.</p><p>"What's - what's my play? Nate, I'm hacking a security system that the Pentagon calls overkill with a laptop I found in the back of my car. Look, man, honest answer - we can't find Parker. We just have to wait for her to send up a signal and hopefully, we get to her first." Hardison said, not hopeful.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were walking close to the building.</p><p>Soon, they got the signal. Hardison's phone rang. "Speak." Hardison answered the phone. "Hardison, listen. I screwed up. I'm downtown in a building, and I-" Parker tried to explain when Hardison cut her off. "We are already here, mama." Hardison said, calming the thief down. "You are? All of you?" Parker asked. Hardison noticed a change in the system. "Wait. Parker, are you calling me from a company landline?" Hardison asked. "Yeah. But it's okay, cause I have an I.D." Parker said. "No, no. Not okay. Parker, they are matching to retinal scans. If a security guard scans your I.D, you're busted. And now that you're calling me, Steranko knows exactly where you are." Hardison said, telling Parker how screwed she was. "What? Why? Make it stop!" Parker said, freaking out slightly. "I don't know. Okay. You got a 30-second window. Right now you're at 20. You need to hang up. Get to cubicle 27. Wait there. Go now." Hardison ordered.</p><p>"You find something?" Archie asked Nate, looking at the papers Archie had. "Guys, what would you say if I told you that all of Mr. Leech's schematics are watermarked with the Wakefield logo?" Nate asked the team.</p><p>"Sounds like original documents. Probably from the company's hard-copy files." Hardison said what the team was thinking. "Yes, the kind of files that are restricted to high-level company personnel." Nate said.</p><p>"Head of Security or above." Hardison realized, going back to his laptop.</p><p>"Okay, Sophie, I need you to do me a favor." Nate said, getting Sophie's attention.</p><p>"Anything. It's not as if there's anything going on where I am." Sophie said, looking at the crowd of people freaking out.</p><p>"I want you to take a look around the room. I mean, really take a good look. Uh, anything standing out to you?" Nate said as Sophie sat down and scanned the room.</p><p>She picked up on a suspicious person. "Dr. Hannity is awfully calm." Sophie pointed out.</p><p>Hardison got to typing. "Hannity. Hannity. Hannity. Dr. Anne Hannity. She's the Senior Vice President in charge of the Research and Development Department. She runs the biotech division." Hardison filled the team in on Dr. Hannity.</p><p>"Yeah, and she has access to the Steranko and the vault that Parker's hitting on the biotech level. Let me ask you something - you ever have contact with a client, I mean face-to-face?" Nate said, talking to Archie at the end.</p><p>"The client insisted on complete discretion." Archie said before he and Nathan had the same thought.</p><p>"She's in on it." They both realized.</p><p>"Why didn't I see it before?" Archie asked himself.</p><p>"Okay. All right, Archie." Nate tried to calm Archie down.</p><p>"Ford, an inside job like this only works if -" Archie said before Nate cut him off.</p><p>"If they've tied up loose ends. Yes." Nate finished the thought.</p><p>"If they find Parker, they're not gonna arrest her. They'll kill her." Archie said. This job had officially taken a turn. And no one was liking it. Archie went to leave when Nate stopped him.</p><p>"Archie, wait, wait. Slow down. Slow down." Nate tried to tell Archie.</p><p>"Look, we got to warn her. They're gonna kill her." Archie said, wanting to help Parker.</p><p>"I got my people on it. All right? Hardison? Talk to me. Where's Parker?" Nate said.</p><p>"Yeah. Yeah. Um... already took care of it. Earbud's going hot in 5...4...3...2...1." Hardison said, waiting for Parker to come on comms.</p><p>"Okay, I got it. I'm on. Come get me." Parker said.</p><p>"Parker!" Nate exclaimed, glad to hear her voice, as was the rest of the team.</p><p>"Is Archie there?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Yeah. Parker." Archie said, putting his index finger to his ear.</p><p>"Archie. Are you okay?" Parker asked Archie.</p><p>"Yeah. Right as rain, kiddo." Archie said. "Kiddo?" Nate questioned, realizing he called Kaira the same thing.</p><p>"I'm sorry. I couldn't get the canister. The transcription codes -" Parker said, trying to explain what went wrong.</p><p>"Parker, what the hell were you thinking going in there?" Archie scolded Parker.</p><p>"They would've caught you Archie. They would've hurt you or your family. Your - your real family. I couldn't let that happen." Parker said.</p><p>Archie looked at Nate, surprised Parker said that. "Well, it's all right. J-Just stay focused." Archie said, calming down Parker.</p><p>"Yes, sir." Parker said, ready to get out. "Sir?" Nate muttered, letting Archie take temporary lead. "Kiddo, I want you to stand up and have a look around. Tell me what you see." Archie said.</p><p>"A bunch of people stealing stuff - staplers, paper... they're pretty bad at it." Parker said before having an awkward conversation about sexting and then having people push her.</p><p>"Your young man." Archie said to Nate. "Hardison." Nate said. "Hardison. Have you got a way out for our girl yet?" Archie asked Hardison. "You don't mind if I-" Archie asked Nate. "No, no, no. Go. Go ahead." Nate said.</p><p>"I have a hole in the grid on the 38th floor. CEO's office. No cameras, no sensors of any kind. Eliot, Kaira, that was a nice call, guys." Hardison said as Karia and Eliot smiled at each other.</p><p>"All right. So Rushing wants his privacy. Eliot, Kaira, you're on." Nate ordered.</p><p>"Wait a second. You want us to climb a 40-story building in broad daylight?!" Eliot asked, growling in frustration.</p><p>"Yes. And I want you to do it now. We're up against the clock." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira saw a maintenance van and a lift. Eliot and Kaira got a crowbar and access to the lift.</p><p>"Oh, Dr. Hannity, you've been a bad girl. Nate, Hannity blew through 60 million last year and didn't make Wakefield a dime. Some kind of, uh, super wheat that nobody wants. She should be on the front line, begging to keep her job. I swear. I'd fire her." Hardison said, still typing on his laptop.</p><p>"Hannity is our inside man. Okay, Sophie, you can let everybody go except Hannity. And I want her angry. I mean steamed." Nate ordered Sophie.</p><p>Sophie did just that, getting Hannity mad by looking at her resume, which was blank sheets of paper. Hannity then got steamed and revealed that she made the wheat to be immune to a blight called UG99, which was a virus that she would conveniently be released and the wheat her team made would get a load of money for the wheat to keep the world going. "Nate. I lost her. She's gone. Nate, are you there?" Sophie said, getting worried.</p><p>"Okay, just - just wait. Wait." Nate said, thinking. "Are you telling me this woman paid us to steal her own wheat?" Archie asked.</p><p>"No. The blight. She developed the wheat to be immune to the UG99 blight, but she needs to test it over and over again. It's like a vaccine. You need the infection to test it. She has the blight." Kaira realized.</p><p>"But why steal something you already own? Why?" Archie asked. "Because she wants it to get out." Nate said, realizing what Kaira was thinking.</p><p>"That is very crazy and absolutely right. Nate, I'm sending you all the data that Hannity has on the project. Okay, look. I just punched into the laboratory storage database. Not only does Dr. Frankenstein have some of that UG99 nightmare fungus stored in a biohazard vault here at the Wakefield, but, like you said, she's keeping it in a canister that matches the schematics that Archie was given. Looks like somebody was trying to jump-start an outbreak." Hardison informed the team.</p><p>"Oh, this - this virus, this what do you call it, gets out and kills the normal wheat." Archie realized.</p><p>"Yeah. And famine everywhere I mean, it's a multibillion dollar market ready for Wakefield to dominate." Nate said.</p><p>"It's so arcane, brutal. She'd have to be a monster." Archie said. "Yes. Yes, she would. We got to take her out." Nate said.</p><p>"We have to get Parker out of there." Archie said at the exact same time.</p><p>"No, no, no." Nate argued.</p><p>"No. Parker gets out now." Archie argued.</p><p>"You - you got to let me think this through. Got to let me think." Nate said, trying to think of a plan.</p><p>"You've got three people trapped in there, an outside man and woman who can't get in. So what now? You gonna actually call the police?" Archie asked, rushing Nate.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Leech, just shut up. Shut up." Nate said, walking away to get some peace, but Archie followed./</p><p>"While you're dreaming up your comic book fantasies, Parker is in there, waiting for a bullet in the head." Archie said.</p><p>"Yeah, and you put her in there." Nate said.</p><p>"And I'm gonna get her out. Parker. It's Archie. You've got to leg it. Run for the front doors now." Archie said.</p><p>"No. No, Parker. You're not going anywhere." Nate said, not wanting to risk Parker running.</p><p>"Your friends botched it, Parker. Just listen to me, and I'll get you home." Archie said, trying to get Parker to listen to him.</p><p>"Parker, do not go anywhere near the entrance. There's a hundred people there. It's a bottleneck." Nate said.</p><p>There was another awkward conversation that Parker went through. "Somebody tell me what to do." Parker loud whispered.</p><p>"Yeah, and fast. I got codes to all the doors, but Steranko is rewriting. The bastard is quick - and smart. Okay, your next open door is two cubicles up and down to the right." Hardison said.</p><p>"You heard the man. Now, go." Nate ordered.</p><p>"Going." Parker said.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were almost at the window.</p><p>Parker was running like hell as Hardison tried to not get locked out.</p><p>"Good. Now, up the stairs, down the hall, left." Hardison guided Parker.</p><p>"Can't grab me an elevator?" Parker asked.</p><p>"No. Elevators are a kill zone. Buildings this tall, nobody uses the stairs, No they're wired for fire safety, not security. They're the better choice. Uh, you are on the executive floor. Okay, so that means less electronic countermeasures. I can spoof those. But that also means more human guards, which are attached to retinal scanners and guns." Hardison sighed, realizing the task was gonna be hard. "Homestretch, mama." Hardison told Parker.</p><p>"I get it. We're here to get Parker out. But this Hannity woman is a piece of work. There must be something we can do to bring her down." Sophie said.</p><p>Nate was still thinking.</p><p>"All right, Parker, you're at the office. Break left." Hardison told Parker.</p><p>"One thing at a time. Eliot, Kaira, she's coming out hot. Are you in position?" Nate asked, walking with Archie.</p><p>"Yeah, we're in position. She's the one that -" Eliot was yelling when Parker walked through. "Parker's here." Kaira said in her comm. Parker took her coat off, smiling at the couple, glad to see them. Eliot tapped on the glass and told Parker to move so he could break the glass. Parker looked back, trying to decide what to do. "Parker, move!" Karia yelled, wanting to get Parker out of there. "No. No, I can't." Parker said. "Parker, what are you doing?" Archie asked. Eliot banged the crowbar on the lift. "This is no time for crazy, all right?! We got to get the hell out of here!" Eliot yelled, not wanting Parker to stay any longer. "I have to go back! The Steranko has a record of the break-in. Hannity can walk the blight out on her own and blame it on me. She's gonna get away with it. We need proof." Parker realized, making her choice. "What proof?" Eliot asked Parker, acting like she was crazy. "I have to go back and steal the blight." Parker said.</p><p>"Parker, this is not what I taught you." Archie said.</p><p>"Archie?" Parker said.</p><p>"We do not get involved. We get out." Archie argued.</p><p>"Archie!" Parker exclaimed.</p><p>"This is not what we do!" Archie argued.</p><p>"No, this isn't what you do! Okay, Hannity is bad. She's gonna hurt people - a lot of people. You've taught me a lot of things, Archie, but... this is what we do." Parker said. Kaira wasn't gonna lie, she was proud of Parker for wanting to do the right thing. Nate also seemed scared. Not that Parker wanted to do the right thing, but that she would risk it all to do the right thing.</p><p>"She's right, Nate." Sophie said.</p><p>"Well, somebody better decide something, cause Steranko is whupping my ass." Hardison said, just wanting to get the job done.</p><p>Nate looked at Archie. "You're not actually considering this?" Archie said. "Parker, last time you went to the vault-" Nate said before Parker cut him off.</p><p>"No, I couldn't, but I was alone then. I'm not alone now, okay? Hardison just clear a path to the vault. I know what I did wrong before I can do it!" Parker said, hyping herself up.</p><p>Nate smiled a tad, proud to have had some influence on Parker. "Okay. It's your show. Go for it." Nate said, giving Parker the command for the moment.</p><p>Parker ran back in as Sophie got ready to leave and Hardison started clearing a path for Parker as Eliot looked upset as Kaira was a bit proud of Parker for standing up for herself.</p><p>"Of all the sanctimonious- she was home free. She was out. And now you got her playing hero?" Archie argued with Nate. "She was right. It's what we do." Nate told Archie, turning to leave when Archie grabbed him. "What you do? You've killed her. That's what you've bloody done. You've killed her." Archie said, his voice breaking.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira made it into the building and met with Parker who was being cornered by a lone security guard. Eliot one, two punched him out, with Parker half smiling as Eliot spun his hand, indicating to move. "Parker, next time you do something stupid like try to crack a Steranko, call us." Kaira scolded as Parker smiled and turned to get ready. "Hardison. Options." Parker said as she started running.</p><p>"Stairwell. Opening the doors... now. Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot opened the door, revealing a group of goons in the stairwell coming up. "Damn it, Hardison! What the hell, man? You're supposed to keep these guys off of us." Eliot said, not happy.</p><p>"Hey, man. Do - Do you want my job?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"You want mine?" Eliot asked as he quickly took a guy down, causing the other guard to stop in their tracks.</p><p>"Look, you guys need to get to the biotech level, because Steranko is locking me out." Hardison said as Parker ran up the steps.</p><p>"Upstairs is the wrong way, Parker!" Kaira said as she and Eliot went after the other goons. "I know what I'm doing." Parker said. Eliot and Kaira were fighting the goons as Parker did her thing.</p><p>"Oh, look, I am not trying to rush y'all, but y'all need to put some pep in your step." Hardison said.</p><p>Parker was setting up her rig as the couple kept fighting. "Where's the next open door?" Parker asked Hardison.</p><p>"Biotech floor, 10 floors down from your last location." Hardison said.</p><p>"Okay, thanks." Parker said. "Eliot, Kaira, how much do you weigh?" Parker asked the couple. "Are you kidding me? Is she kidding me?" Eliot asked, having a guy in a chokehold. "I'm really not." Parker said. She repelled down as Kaira knocked the goon out and disarmed him. "I ain't riding that thing." Eliot said. "I'll get on." Kaira paid, getting on the rope with Parker. "Fine. See you on the biotech level." Parker said as she repelled down. "And bring one of those scanners!" Parker yelled. Eliot grabbed the scanner and ran down the steps.</p><p>"Okay. I got you an elevator and an open door on the vault level floor, but now I am officially locked out." Hardison said.</p><p>"All right. Get Sophie and get going." Nate ordered.</p><p>"What about Parker?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Not your problem. Get going." Nate ordered as Hardison packed up his things and left, grabbing Sophie along the way.</p><p>"This is never gonna work." Archie said as Nate dialed the phone. "Not now, Leech. I'm on the phone." Nate said.</p><p>The trio inside the building was running down the hallway, with Eliot and Kaira taking out the goons along the way, scaring the two female employees. Then an awkward guy in glasses went to talk to Parker, and Eliot pushed the guy by the throat against the wall. "He's okay." Parker said to Eliot, calming him down. "He's okay." Parker said, getting Eliot off of him. "Who's that guy?" The poor guy asked Parker. "Uh, my husband." Kaira said, following Eliot. "Sorry." Parker said, running to catch up. "What's sexting?" Parker asked the couple. "I'm not having this conversation with you, Parker." Eliot said. Kaira groaned. "Parker, not in the mood right now." Kaira said. They arrived at the lab door. "It's a retina scanner." Eliot pointed out. Parker extended her hand and Eliot grabbed the scanner from the goon they had knocked out at the stairwell and handed it to Parker. "Only way to beat the Steranko..." Parker said, playing with the scanner, pulling up a retina and putting it to the scanner, unlocking the door. "...is with the Steranko." Parker said, shoving the scanner to Eliot's chest, pushing him back as Parker opened the door. She went to the box the blight was in. "Not an Ascii code. It's a shell code." Parker explained, typing it in. The cylinder came out of the wall and Parker grabbed it, holding it up. "That's great. You're awesome. Let's go!" Eliot mocked, dropping it quickly to yell at Parker. Just then, an alarm started blaring. The pad on the wall said there was a hazmat containment breach.</p><p>The trio got out of there as Nate and Archie walked to the crew of firefighters, grabbing a hazmat suit from the truck. Archie drew a gun on Nate, hiding it under a coat. "That building's completely locked down. They're gonna catch her. And it's all at your door. She was perfect. You ruined her. If you'd left her alone..." Archie said, upset Parker was still inside and grabbing the blight. "I didn't put her in there Leech." Nate argued, calm. "She stayed up there to service you and your pathetic Robin Hood fantasy. I made her unique. What is she now?" Archie said. "I-I have no idea what Parker is now. I doubt she know. You're a thief. You're not a hitter." Nate said, sizing up Archie, looking him in the eyes. "You know nothing about me." Archie said. "What I do know id that we'd both die to protect her. Now, if you're gonna shoot me, do it. I got work to do." Nate turned back to grab the hazmat suit. "You're going in after her?" Archie questioned, surprised. "Alway was, Leech." Nate said, handing a suit to Archie. "Always was." Nate repeated.</p><p>Hannity and the main guard went in the elevator, with Archie and a reporter's crew still in hazmat gear. "It's safe up here?" Hannity asked the guard. "The entire floor has been evacuated. We're alone." The guard said. Archie took the helmet off, revealing his face, holding the cannister. "We had a deal." Hannity said. "We did, until you breached our original contract. After all, you did want to kill me - and my partner." Archie said. "Business is business." Hannity argued. "Yes. And so the price has gone up. If you want your property, you'll now pay double." Archie negotiated. "I've heard your proposal. Now here's mine - I take the blight now. Mr. Vorhees kills all of you and feeds your bodies to the very expensive incinerators we have in the sublevel." Hannity threatened. "And the police outside?" Archie questioned. Hannity chuckled. "They're perfect. With all those eyes on the break-in, the hazmat spill - It'll be easy to blame the theft on, well... you people. Six months from now, when the famines make news, Wakefield will be the only company with a fix. So... How do you want it? Straight on? Back of the head? Mr. Vorhees is flexible." Hannity said, threatening Archie. "Oh, neither, I think. Is that enough for you, young lady?" Archie asked the person next to him. "That's plenty." The woman said. She took off her helmet, revealing herself as a reporter. "Janet Lin, channel 6 news. I'll just need to follow up on your little conspiracy to commit murder. Any comment, Doctor? We're live." Janet said, her crew revealing themselves. Hannity chuckled nervously.</p><p>The team flashed back to when Nate and Archie were still on the roof, Nate asked Hardison to trigger a Hazmat evacuation, and called the producer of Janet's show, thinking she would rather have a Pulitzer than a local Emmy. Eliot, Parker, and Kaira gave Archie the canister and Hardison got Nate out of the elevator. They met on the floor that they were originally going to use to get out, using the lift Eliot stole to get down, looking at Hannity's confused expression as they went down.</p><p>They met back up later after Nate and Parker said goodbye to Archie.</p><p>Later, the team was all celebrating their win with some food and drink that Eliot prepared. After they ate and talked and drank, Kaira volunteered to do the dishes, and Nate walked up to her.</p><p>"Hey, kiddo." Nate said, going beside Kaira. She smiled and turned the water off and looked at Nate. "Hey Nate." Kaira said, wondering what was on Nate's mind. "I was thinking, hearing Archie call Parker kiddo, I was reminded of you." Nate said. "What?" Kaira questioned, not sure where this conversation was going. "I'd like to think that I taught you a lot, as a mentor of sorts. Then when Eliot told me that he wanted my permission to marry you cause that's what fathers are supposed to do for their daughters, I was reminded that I never got to have a daughter." Nate said, Kaira tried not to cry. "Nate, you don't have to." Kaira said, now knowing where this conversation was going. "I do. And I met you and Parker, and it was like I had two daughters. I'd do anything to protect you. And I know I wasn't always the best person to be looking up to. I mean, you were the one who called my drunk ass out the first time. And, the fact that even after all that, you still thought of me as a dad, and looked up to me, it did affect me. I know you aren't my biological daughter, but it doesn't matter to me. You're my daughter. And I'm proud of you." Nate said, started to get emotional. Kaira just hugged Nate. "Thank you, Nathan. And I know you're not my biological father, but you are the closest thing I have to one. I love you, Nathan. And I am proud to be your daughter. And, I'd never really fit in with a normal family. I like the one I have." Kaira didn't let go of Nate for a while, just teared up in his shoulder, taking in the moment they were in. Both father and daughter had gotten what they wanted to say out, and knew that they would do anything for the other.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! This episode was really nice to write! Some information for you all, I published the first chapter of my book Mariah and the Phoenix Foundation, which is based on MacGyver if you want to read it! </p><p>That being said, here is the video for this chapter! </p><p>(Naughty language warning!)</p><p>  https://youtu.be/UioLjnVTIz4 </p><p>So this is a song that I can't get out of my head. And this song surprisingly works well with Eliot and his character! And plus, I have an unhealthy obsession with Eliot and Christian Kane, so there's that. </p><p>With all that out of the way, I want to thank you all! Remember to give kudos and share this chapter! Much love to you all! Stay Safe! </p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. The Scheherazade Job (3x4)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team is back at it again! The team's latest client is a reporter who was nearly run over after trying to gather evidence on crimes committed in the African country Wadata. To do so, the team must rob an African kleptocrats vault, timing their heist to a symphony concert above the vault, and Hardison is the star of the concert.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I am back with another chapter! This should be an interesting one to write, but I hope you'll like this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira walked into the bar, with Hardison bumping into Eliot in the doorway. "Damn it, Hardison." Eliot growled.</p><p>"What are you doing here?" Hardison asked the couple.</p><p>"What do you mean, what am we doing here? Nate asked us to come to the client meeting cause somebody tried to kill her. What are you doing here?" Eliot asked, sitting down at the table with Kaira and Hardison.</p><p>"I though take your daughter to work day was last week." Eliot said, causing a chuckle from Kaira as she looked at Nate.</p><p>"I'm here to check out what Nate does for when I run my own crew one day." Hardison said, causing Kaira to nod her head in impressment.</p><p>"Wait, wait, wait. Hey, whoa. Hardison, that's why you wanted to come? No." Nate said.</p><p>"What do you mean, no? I am the super-skrull. Okay, I have all y'all's skills. I hack, I grift, I thieve." Hardison said.</p><p>"So do I, Hardison. And I fight." Kaira pointed out, teasing Hardison.</p><p>"Do you fight?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"I have a dog for that. Name's Megabite." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira chuckled again, trying not to laugh at the nerdy name.</p><p>"Hey, Hardison. You can't do what I do." Nate said.</p><p>"Why, you think I'm not smart enough?" Hardison asked, wondering what he needed to do.</p><p>"Nah, No, you're smart enough. That's the easy part." Nate said. "What's the hard part?" Hardison asked.</p><p>That's when the client, an African American reporter named Jane Akinyemi who was almost run over earlier, walked in and approached the table the gang was at. The team stood up to greet her.</p><p>"Hello." Jane said, shaking Nate's hand. "Nice to see you again." Nate said to Jane.</p><p>"Yes." Jane said. "I'd like you to meet my associates here, Eliot Spencer, his wife and my daughter Kaira Spencer, and Alec Hardison." Nate introduced each member, causing a smile from Kaira when he introduced her as his daughter.</p><p>They shook hands and sat down, with Kaira pulling a chair over for herself from the empty table nearby. Jane cleared her throat.</p><p>"Those men have been following me." Jane said, nodding discretely to the two African men at the door in suits.</p><p>Nate nodded to Eliot, signaling him to take care of it.</p><p>"Want me to help?" Kaira whispered to Eliot.</p><p>He shook his head no and stood up. He walked over to the two men, acting slightly drunk as the group watched, Kaira taking a sip of her drink. "Say, man, I think - I think that's my jacket you got on." Eliot said, slurring slightly, tapping the guy. "Back off." The guy said, having an African accent. "Look, I left it too long at the dry cleaners. You can't just give away somebody's jacket. This is my jacket. If I could just get it back from you. Yeah, I like it. My mom gave it to me." Eliot said. The guy finished taking a sip of his drink and turned and punched Eliot in the stomach. The crowd murmured as Kaira wasn't worried. Eliot was groaning. "I said, back off." The guy repeated, holding his position. just then the guy was heard groaning as Eliot broke his fingers, coming back up, bringing the guy to his knees. Kaira stood up with her drink and watched as Eliot punched the other goon. The goon looked at Eliot. "What's up?" Eliot said. The guy swung at Eliot's shoulder, but Eliot took the blow, and hit the goon in the face, sending him to the wall as the crowd murmured. The goon went after Eliot, but he kicked him, sending him back, then punched the goon he had down in the stomach, then lifted him up, and hit his back as Eliot looked at Kaira, sending the goon to the wall. Eliot grabbed Kaira's drink and took a swig. "Thanks sweetheart." Eliot winked at Kaira, having a shit-eating grin on his face.</p><p>Kaira grinned back at Eliot. "You're welcome baby." Kaira said, flirting as Eliot handed the glass back to Kaira.</p><p>Eliot looked back at the goons. He cracked his neck and banged his chest, ready to keep fighting. The goons left in a huff as Eliot walked back and Kaira planted her ass on his lap, proud. The patrons of the bar ignored the commotion.</p><p>"Can your dog do that?" Eliot asked Hardison.</p><p>Hardison looked at Eliot, unimpressed. Jane started explaining why she contacted Nate. It was about her country of Wadata, in Africa and it's leader's brother, Alexander Moto.</p><p>"The conditions there are deplorable. When the children who work in Mr. Moto's diamond mine meet their quota, they earn a dollar and fifty cents a day. When they don't, they go hungry." Jane explained.</p><p>Kaira felt really bad for the kids.</p><p>"Yeah, or worse." Eliot said, causing the group to look at him. "I've fought in these countries. I've seen these kids. You make it out of the mine, well, then you get an M-16 in the rebel army." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira put her hand on his shoulder in comfort.</p><p>"And Mr. Moto, he smuggles his diamonds into the U.S, and then he launders then through his real-estate holdings here in Boston." Nate continued explaining.</p><p>"I guess it pays to have a brother who's president." Hardison said.</p><p>"The President is a good man who has worked hard to raise the standard of living for our people. But his brother is very smart. He covers his tracks. That is why he'll win." Jane said.</p><p>"This money that Alexander's saving - this - this is for a coup?" Eliot asked Jane.</p><p>"No. An election. Terms limits will force his brother out in less than a year. Nothing will stop Alexander then. Rumor has it he's already sold the country to corporations." Jane continued explaining.</p><p>"Yeah, for that giant oil field they discovered, right?" Nate realized.</p><p>"So, from diamond smuggler to Opec member. That's a nice bounce." Hardison said.</p><p>"In four days, our President will visit his brother here in Boston. That will solidify Alexander as his heir apparent back home." Jane explained.</p><p>"Jane, don't you think that when - when that article you wrote comes out, that the justice department -" Nate tried explaining when Jane cut him off.</p><p>"Will do nothing! I brought them proof of Moto's crimes months ago. They started an investigation, then stopped. Why?" Jane revealed.</p><p>Kaira exhaled, getting an idea no one would like.</p><p>"I don't know. But I know how to find out." Nate said before Kaira could speak up.</p><p>Later that night, Nate met with the Italian, waiting in the car until she came out, wearing a nice dress. "Well, thank you for seeing me on, uh, short notice." Nate said.</p><p>"You are helping me to catch Damien Moreau. It's just good manners." The Italian told Nate.</p><p>"Did I drag you away from a-a party or something?" Nate asked, noticing the attire.</p><p>"A date... with a fugitive... who is no longer a fugitive." The Italian said.</p><p>"Oh. Oh." Nate realized what she meant.</p><p>"Mr. Ford, I don't have time for this. You come here about Alexander Moto, right?" The Italian said, wanting to get to business.</p><p>"Yes, yes, yes. Diamond smuggler, aspiring Kleptocrat - seemed like, uh, your kind of guy." Nate said.</p><p>"You wanted to know why the U.S leaves him alone?" The Italian asked.</p><p>"That's right." Nate said.</p><p>"Here it is. He identifies Jihadists in Africa." The Italian revealed.</p><p>"You mean terrorists. He's a paid informant." Nate realized.</p><p>"Yes. Once a month, he gives CIA a name, and they give him back money. Its." She sighed. "Come di dice? A side job?" The Italian said.</p><p>Nate thought about the information.</p><p>"Have you had dinner?" The Italian asked, causing Nate to perk up. "Cause I don't like eating alone." The Italian said.</p><p>Nate thought about it, and after an awkward thought, he declined.</p><p>"Y-yeah, I got plans." Nate said.</p><p>"Well... It will be for the next time." The Italian said, leaving the car.</p><p>"Yeah, cause..." Nate said, rubbing his throat.</p><p>The next morning, Nate took his findings to the team as Eliot, Sophie, and Kaira gathered around Nate as he sent Parker and Hardison to scout Moto's properties.</p><p>"Wait a minute. This guy makes money off the backs of children, and nobody goes after him because he feeds the CIA a bunch of names?" Eliot questioned, a bit angry.</p><p>"What's the bet that the names he gives of these Jihadists are actually his political rivals?" Kaira said, pissed.</p><p>"I'll take that bet." Nate said, turning around. "And if the government won't go after Moto, we will. Now, he bought his real estate at the top of the market, so he's leveraged up to his eyeballs. And the only thing keeping him afloat from not going bankrupt is the steady flow of diamonds. And what's the best thing about smuggled diamonds?" Nate said.</p><p>"Oh, I now this one. It's the way that they shimmer on the deck of a billionaire's yacht in the moonlight." Sophie said.</p><p>"Because they're uninsured." Eliot answered, ignoring Sophie's daydreaming.</p><p>"Right. So, we go after Moto's diamonds, and we end a political career before it starts. We just have to find out where the vault is. Parker." Nate said.</p><p>Parker was in the streets, taking pictures and Hardison was in the van. "Okay, we are at stop four on our tour of Alexander Moto's Boston properties." Parker said, continuing to take pictures</p><p>"Records show he just renovated the place with state-of-the-art security tech, but he wouldn't put a vault in here." Hardison said.</p><p>"Why is that?" Nate asked Hardison.</p><p>"It's Raines Concert Hall, where the Massachusetts Chamber Orchestra plays. Why-" Hardison said when Parker interrupted, scanning the outside of the building.</p><p>"They have concerts here? Look at that foundation. I thought this was a bank." Parker said, liking the building.</p><p>"Like - like I said -it's the perfect place for a vault." Hardison said, realizing Parker is right.</p><p>Parker chuckled as she approached the panel to what looked like an electrical box. "Aww. Junior High. And they thought Jackie Thomas' report card was safe." Parker said, easily picking the lock and opening the panel. "Guys, they have a dedicated airline that goes straight to the basement. Used for storing extremely delicate items. That's where your vault is." Parker said, closing the panel.</p><p>"Hey, guys, I think I may have found his fragile item. Moto just purchased a Stradivarius violin for 4.5 million dollars." Hardison said, looking at his screen.</p><p>Sophie pulled up the information on the screen back at HQ as the boys and Kaira sat down, with Sophie at the screen.</p><p>"This all fits. Moto's made himself a patron of the arts in Boston to, you know, up his profile with the old money crowd." Sophie explained, pulling up a magazine.</p><p>"And what's his vulnerability?" Nate asked.</p><p>"His ties to America. His father sent him out of the country at an early age. He was educated in Europe, got his MBA at Harvard. His brother's a national hero. But Moto doesn't even speak his native language." Sophie revealed.</p><p>"He's gonna have to kiss a lot of babies...or stuff a lot of ballot boxes." Eliot said.</p><p>"So Moto's problem is, is that he's an outsider to his own people." Nate said.</p><p>"Yeah, well, what about my problem? I can't break into a vault without seeing the inside first." Parker said, walking away from the panel to get to the van.</p><p>"Yeah, okay, so, you need a tour of the vault, and Moto, our mark, needs to look back home." Nate said, thinking of a plan. "Let's go steal the man on the street." Nate said, about to leave. "In Africa." Nate finished.</p><p>Hardison and Parker return soon after and Eliot called Jane as Hardison was on his laptop, as Kaira was next to them.</p><p>"Jane, has Moto ever given you an interview?" Eliot asked Jane. "Never." Jane answered. "Does he drink?" Eliot asked. "On occasion. Why?" Jane asked. "No reason. Listen, stay away from your apartment, and call me or Kaira at the first sign of any trouble." Eliot said. "Okay." Jane said. Eliot hung up the phone and watched Hardison as he was faking a photo.</p><p>He changed the ribbon-cutting scissors to a champagne bottle.</p><p>"That's nice. Make him - Make him look drunker." Eliot said, as Hardison added bloodshot eyes to Moto's photo.</p><p>"And then richer." Eliot said.</p><p>"What do you want me to do, give the man a pet tiger?" Hardison asked Eliot, annoyed.</p><p>"Can you do that?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Just leave it how it is, Hardison." Kaira said as he put the picture on the page and typed in a quote that made Moto look bad.</p><p>Soon, Eliot got changed into a vest and khaki shirt and jeans and put his hair up and was holding a mic, acting like he was walking in front of the green screen as Hardison recorded and Kaira got ready to edit the footage. "The protests were sparked by an interview with the President's brother in which he referred to the Wadata national Soccer Team as... "Little school girls." In any-" Eliot ducked as Hardison shook the camera. "That was a close one. Uh, in any case, Alexander Moto's status as his heir apparent is clearly in jeopardy. I'm Guy Hamilton, reporting from Wadata." Eliot finished the report as Hardison put his thumb up, telling Eliot to stop as Kaira took the footage and edited it and put it on the newsreel.</p><p>Sophie got as call as Kristy Connelly. And went to talk to Motto, selling him the idea she could help him</p><p>The next day, Hardison as Temi and Sophie as Kristy met with Motto and got him to take them to the vault.</p><p>"Good work, guys. He's taking you to the vault. Let's find those diamonds." Nate said.</p><p>"Down these stairs, I think you'll find something very inspiring." Motto said as they went down the steps.</p><p>Nate, Parker, and Kaira were looking at the feed from the button cam Hardison had on.</p><p>"Okay, guys, look inspired." Nate said.</p><p>"Electromagnetic lock with retinal scanner - can withstand 2,000 pounds of pressure." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"You want to know what you can achieve in America?" Moto asked Hardison, who smiled and nodded as Moto put his eye to the retinal scanner. "Come." Motto said as he walked into the vault.</p><p>Just ahead of them was the Stradivarius. "Antonio Stradivari made it himself in 1705. It's magnificent, isn't it." Motto said as Hardison smiled, amazed at the sight.</p><p>"With all the technology in the world today, you..." Hardison started speaking in his normal voice. Sophie cleared her throat, warning Hardison. "...You couldn't make a violin that sounds as good as that one. No one understands why." Hardison said, dazed.</p><p>"S-Sophie? I need you to zero in on the lockers." Nate said as Sophie made her way over.</p><p>"Security logs show a delivery from Wadata a week ago that was placed in locker number allegro." Parker said.</p><p>"Allegro is a music term. Indicates that the tempo is fast. That's our diamonds." Kaira said.</p><p>"Okay, Sophie, what I need you to do right now is so stand next to locker Allegro so Hardison can get us a shot." Nate said.</p><p>"I can tell from your reaction that we are a good match." Motto told Hardison.</p><p>"I think you'd agree with that, wouldn't you, Temi?" Sophie said.</p><p>Hardison didn't budge.</p><p>"Temi? Temi!" Sophie exclaimed, getting his attention as Hardison turned.</p><p>Sophie looked at Hardison and he turned, giving the trio at HQ the locker.</p><p>"All right. How do we break in?" Nate asked the girls.</p><p>"We can't." Parker said.</p><p>"What? Excuse me?" Nate questioned.</p><p>"Nathan, did you see any video cameras anywhere?" Kaira asked Nate.</p><p>"No, but-" Nate said when Parker cut him off.</p><p>"Want to know why?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Why?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Because video cameras require people to watch them, people who fall asleep." Parker said.</p><p>"This vault, Nathan, is a Glen-Reader. It works off of motion sensors and is unhackable, even for a guy of Hardison's talent." Kaira said.</p><p>"Okay, well, I mean, if we can't turn it off, we got to get them to do it for us. So check the logs and see of there was ever a time where they shut it down... and - and why." Nate ordered.</p><p>Parker looked at the large screen, pulling up the log. "Uh, it looks like they shut it down once when the orchestra played the 1812 Overture. Because they were afraid the vibrations would set it off. Guess that's what happens when you build a vault under a concert hall." Parker said</p><p>Nate was thinking, making a plan. "Uh, Sophie, listen up. I'm gonna change the play." Nate said before telling Sophie the play.</p><p>Sophie laughed. "I've just had a thought. The story of you helping Temi - I-It's gonna raise your profile in the cities, but what about the rural areas? They don't have televisions or newspapers." Sophie said.</p><p>"No. Only radios." Motto said.</p><p>Sophie exhaled, excited. "Which is why this is perfect. Your brother's visiting in two days. You're gonna host a concert in his honor in your concert hall, and Temi... Temi will be the star." Sophie said.</p><p>Hardison tried to hide his fear.</p><p>They went back to HQ and went to plan the next part.</p><p>Hardison came down the stairs. "The violin - play the violin like it's a kazoo!" Hardison yelled, not happy.</p><p>"What were you doing up there? Napping? I told you - we got lots of work to do." Nate said, sitting at his desk.</p><p>"Don't. Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me right now. Y-you know what you've done? You asked me the violin in front of people." Hardison said.</p><p>"Yes, well, you said you were good." Nate said.</p><p>"As a child. That was 10 years ago." Hardison argued.</p><p>"Oh, come on, come on, Hardison. Listen, you know, you told me you could do anything. You told me you were super-skull!" Nate said, kinda mocking Hardison.</p><p>"Skrull. Skrull. Get it right. Super - Sup - Super-Skrull - Who has the combined powers of the Fantastic Four, one of whom is not Itzhak Perlman." Hardison said.</p><p>Sophie then walked in, holding a folder with sheet music. "Hey. I just helped Moto pick out the music for the convert. Look what it is." Sophie said, handing the music to Nate.</p><p>"Ah! Yes, yes. No, this is- this is perfect." Nate said, smiling. "I mean, you know, because it's -it's big, and it's - it's loud, and they're gonna have to turn off the motion sensors for this. Perfect." Nate said, pleased with the selection.</p><p>Hardison grabbed the folder. "Seeing as how I'm the one who's got to play it. What is it?" Hardison asked</p><p>"It's Scheherazade by Korsakov. It's based on a story from the Arabian Nights about a sultan who marries a new bride every night and has her killed by morning - until Scheherazade. You see, every night, she tells him a story with such a suspenseful cliffhanger that he daren't execute her for fear that he may never know the ending." She told her stories for 1,001 nights, until the sultan fell deeply, deeply in love with her. Ah. Scheherazade. She's one of literature's all time great grifters." Sophie said.</p><p>"Mm. Let me tell you what I know about some Scheherazade. Okay? It ends with one of the most difficult violin solos - my solo." Hardison said, not pleased.</p><p>"That's- that's right. You'll be the star of the piece." Nate said, looking at the paper in front of him.</p><p>"Excuse me... while I go to my storage locker and pull out a very dusty violin." Hardison said, going to leave.</p><p>"Oh, no, Moto wants you to play his violin." Sophie revealed.</p><p>"The Strad?" Hardison questioned, shocked.</p><p>"He said, um, it's the first time he's met someone worthy. You made quite an impression." Sophie said.</p><p>"Oh, Lord, tell me this isn't happening." Hardison said.</p><p>"And the conductor needs you there in two hours." Sophie said.</p><p>"Aw, come on, man!" Hardison exclaimed.</p><p>"Yeah, see, I told you you shouldn't be napping. You gotta go. Gotta go." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison quickly left to make it on time as Sophie leaned on the desk. "Nate." Sophie said.</p><p>"Yes?" Nate asked.</p><p>"You know when - when criminals go to jail, they inevitably pick up a few skills, like a pickpocket might learn, um... I don't know - safecracking. Well... is there anything you want to tell me?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"You know me, I always like to pick up an extra wrench here and there for the old toolbox. You said it yourself - he's, uh... he's the best candidate." Nate said. He started the metronome again.</p><p>Hardison went to the rehearsal and got a call to leave./</p><p>Parker and Kaira were making a plan. Parker was eating cereal as Nate walked in to HQ. "How's the plan?" Nate asked.</p><p>"We'll walk you through it." Parker said, putting the bowl down.</p><p>"We have three main obstacles - two doors and a guard." Parker said.</p><p>"At the first door, there's a six-digit keypad." Kaira informed the team.</p><p>"You got the code yet?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Let's find out. Sophie?" Parker said, getting Sophie's attention.</p><p>Sophie was at the concert hall. "Minutes away." Sophie whispered. She got stopped by security, who checked her bags. Sophie warned the guard about the sensitive lense in her case, and talked about how she was going to check the acoustics.</p><p>Eliot was also at the concert hall, acting as a maintenance man.</p><p>"Babe, you in position?" Kaira asked Eliot</p><p>"All right, I'm at the door." Eliot said. He sprayed something sticky on the keypad and got stopped by security. He went to leave, saying he was supposed to be there and had to call his supervisor. Eliot went to check out the code, but the guard blocked most of it. The guard left and Eliot walked back over. "All right, it's a six-digit code. The first two numbers are 6 and 4, in that sequence." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira grabbed a notepad and wrote that down.</p><p>Eliot pulled a UV light out of his bag and held it to the keypad. "Next four numbers are 2, 3..., 8, 9... not in sequence." Eliot reported.</p><p>"Okay, that means I'm gonna have to punch in all the combinations. That's gonna take time, and there's a guard." Parker pointed out, looking at the notepad.</p><p>Well, Eliot and Kaira can take care of the guard. Right guys?" Nate said.</p><p>Kaira nodded her head yes.</p><p>"Yeah. Sure." Eliot said, ready to leave.</p><p>Nate looked at the map in front of him. "That puts us through the first door, and it's a straight shot down through the stairs, which leads us right into the vault." Nate said.</p><p>"Where we have the retina scanner, which we do not have time to hack, so I would skip the stairs and blow a hole in the floor right here." Parker pointed to the spot.</p><p>"Wait, Parker, won't the explosion be heard?" Kaira asked, wondering if the plan was gonna work.</p><p>"Okay, great, so - so, we get to the vault through the ceiling, we get the diamonds, we wait for the concert to end, and we slip out with the crowd." Nate said.</p><p>"Nope." Parker said</p><p>"What do you mean, no? That's what you just -" Nate questioned.</p><p>"Our only window to break into this vault is during the concert when the motion sensors are turned off. Right?" Parker said.</p><p>"Right." Nate said.</p><p>"Okay, well, this is a concert for a foreign dignitary with a full secret service detail." Parker said.</p><p>"Okay, cliff notes; we have to take out the guard, blow a hole in the floor without anybody hearing it. We need perfect timing. That's gonna be the only way to pull this off." Kaira said, not liking the plan.</p><p>"Yeah, I-I can't do it, either, man. I'm out. Mnh-Mnh." Hardison said, drinking his orange soda."You know, I'm sorry for the people of this country - I really am - but this is the most frightening thing I've ever had to do." Hardison was saying as Nate grabbed the sheet music. "No. I'm sorry, I can't. Mnh-mnh. I'm out." Hardison said, psyching himself out.</p><p>"How much time do we need for the break-in?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Seven minutes...minimum." Parker answered.</p><p>"So, here's where Eliot and Kaira take care of the guard, and then here's where we blow a hole through the floor, the last seven minutes of the piece, of course, depending on tempo." Nate started going off, pointing to different places in the sheet music./</p><p>"What are you talking about?" Parker asked.</p><p>Kaira realized what Nate meant. "You want to time the break-in to the music?" Kaira asked Nate.</p><p>"Yes. Yes." Nate said.</p><p>"No, no. It can't be done." Hardison tried to explain.</p><p>"Why?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Look, everything would have to be in sync - perfectly in sync. Nate, we would need our own -" Hardison said.</p><p>"Conductor!" Nate realized, liking the plan. Nate got up to leave to work out the timing.</p><p>Later, the team arrived, getting set up before the concert. Parker and Kaira were watching Hardison tried to play the violin, albeit off-key, but Kaira had to admire the boy for trying. Parker cleared her throat, getting Hardison's attention.</p><p>"Pa - Parker, Kaira, what are you doing here?" Hardison asked.</p><p>Establishing my cover. Doing a walk through with Kaira. How's it going?" Parker asked, going up to Hardison.</p><p>"How do you think it's going? In 24 hours, right where I'm standing, I'm gonna make a fool of myself." Hardison said, not happy.</p><p>"Yeah, it's actually a lot worse than that." Parker said.</p><p>What do you mean?" Hardison asked Parker.</p><p>"Well, the whole heist depends on you being able to play. If you can't, the mark's gonna know something's up, and then he's gonna kill us all." Parker said.</p><p>Hardison wondered what the girl was doing as Kaira growled.</p><p>"Is this a pep talk?" Hardison asked</p><p>"Then he'll take over the country, rob his people blind! I mean imagine the suffering -" Parker said, giving the stakes, not knowing she wasn't helping.</p><p>"Parker!" Kaira exclaimed, getting Parker to stop. "Parker, cool it with the doomsday shit, okay?" Kaira warned Parker./</p><p>"I'm just trying to get a little adrenaline flowing here. That's all you need, okay? It works for me." Parker said</p><p>"That's actually a good point. Kinda." Kaira said, liking the idea.</p><p>"If I get adrenaline flowing, my giant hands are gonna snap this priceless violin in half." Hardison said.</p><p>"Oh. You'll be fine." Parker said, patting Hardison's shoulder, then leaving.</p><p>Kaira turned to Hardison. "Okay. Don't listen to what Parker said. Here. I want you to look at me." Kaira said.</p><p>Hardison faced Kaira. "Now, take a deep breath in through your nose." Kaira said, breathing in.</p><p>Hardison copied her.</p><p>"And exhale through the mouth." Kaira said, exhaling.</p><p>Hardison copied.</p><p>"Keep doing that." Kaira explained, repeating the cycle with Hardison, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Okay, keep going. Slow. Right now, what you're experiencing is flight or fight. Which is normal, and okay to experience. I know you're scared. I would be too. Yes, being scared keeps you on your toes, it gives you the boost you need to run. But right now, you don't want to run. You need to calm down to fight. Doing the breaths increases your oxygen levels, decreasing your heart rate and blood pressure. It allows you to think more clearly, and allows you to be ready for the fight. Focus on you, not what the rest of us are doing. You do that, and you're gonna have another anxiety attack. So, before the show, I want you to do the breaths, clear your mind, and focus." Kaira explained to Hardison, his eyes closed like Kaira was hypnotizing him, kinda.</p><p>Hardison opened his eyes, surprised at what happened.</p><p>"You okay?" Kaira asked Hardison.</p><p>"I think so. Damn, woman. How'd you learn to do that?" Hardison asked, realizing the trance state he was in.</p><p>"I do know some trick, you know." Kaira smiled at Hardison, removing her hands.</p><p>"D-Did you put me in a trance?" Hardison asked, wondering what Kaira did.</p><p>"Kind of. I just had you focus on my voice as you did the breathes, and calmed you down. You were conscious through it. It's more like neurolinguistic programming than hypnosis. I basically tricked your mind into calming itself down. Hypnosis is more like if you gave up total control of your body. You were in control, but more susceptible to do what I said. I tricked your body into slowing down the release of adrenaline, just enough to keep you alert, but not flight or fight response levels." Kaira explained, knowing how Hardison didn't like mind games.</p><p>"Thanks, little sister." Hardison smiled at Kaira, hugging her.</p><p>"You're welcome, big brother. Now, kick it in the ass." Kaira smiled back at Hardison as she left.</p><p>Hardison smiled back and went back to practicing.</p><p>24 hours later, the team was back again, with Sophie in the vip suite, waiting for the Motto brothers. Hardison was in his suite, warming up, Kaira's words in his mind. Nate was in the balcony band storage room, getting his sheet music out and laptop to monitor and time the heist. Kaira, Eliot, and Parker were getting ready to do their part of the heist. Sophie sat down and Nate looked at her through the curtain.</p><p>"I spotted secret service guys on the balcony." Sophie reported.</p><p>Nate closed the curtain and went to his spot. His phone rang. "I don't have time." Nate said, seeing who the contact was. "Meet me in the prop room now." The Italian said. She hung up the phone as the crowd applauded. The lights went down and the spotlight came up on Hardison, which he did not like. Then the concert started playing <em>Scheherazade</em>.</p><p>https://youtu.be/pRR-FUKnimM</p><p>(Feel free to copy the link above to get the music as you continue reading.)</p><p>Nate walked into the prop room and saw the Italian. "Can't I enjoy a concert without you following me?" Nate asked.</p><p>"I need something from Moto's safe. And don't play games with me. I know why you're here. And I think it's cute. But this is a matter of national security. Find the envelope in Moto's safe, and leave this behind." The Italian said, getting right to business, handing Nate an envelope.</p><p>Nate scoffed. "I'm not your mailman." Nate said, going to walk away.</p><p>"This envelope is a link in the chain that leads to Damien Moreau. You will get it for me, or your team goes down. That was our deal." The Italian said, threatening Nate, causing him to turn around.</p><p>"<em>I thought we were friends</em>." Nate said in Italian.</p><p>The Italian chuckled. "Don't you know? I don't have any friends." The Italian said, shoving the envelope to Nate. The Italian left.</p><p>Nate went back to his spot as the orchestra still kept playing.</p><p>Eliot, Parker, and Kaira were getting ready. Parker knocked over the debt cord, and Eliot caught it, as he was on the ground.</p><p>"Parker. Explosives!" Eliot growled at the thief.</p><p>Parker inhaled as Eliot groaned again. Kaira was slightly amused as Nate kept the tempo.</p><p>"Okay, guys... buckle up." Nate ordered as the trio got their stuff ready. "You have seven minutes, but it depends on how fast the conductor leads the orchestra. I'll follow his pace and cue you. Here we go. On My mark. Now!" Nate ordered, starting the timer.</p><p>Eliot pushed the cart and Parker and Kaira followed.</p><p>Sophie Left to do her part.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira kept their heads down as they walk by security.</p><p>Sophie went up to the projection room and got ready.</p><p>Parker started punching in the codes as Eliot and Kaira kept watch, seeing a guard come up. Eliot and the guard stared each other down, as Kaira made sure Parker was good. The guard tacked Eliot, sending him to the wall, knocking the glasses off of him. The guard went after Parker, But Kaira got in between, keeping the guard off of Parker. Kaira stomped on the guard's foot and placed her thumbs on the goon's neck, applying a lot of pressure. The guard got Kaira off and threw her to the wall, causing her to groan. The guard was about to go after Parker when Eliot got up.</p><p>"No!" Eliot yelled, distracting the guard, causing Eliot to get punched.</p><p>The guard and Eliot exchanged several elbows and fists as Kaira got up. Eliot was getting pounded, so she waited until the guard was distracted and jumped on his back, applying pressure to the carotid again. Eliot tried to take out his legs, and was successful, sending the guard down, causing Kaira to fall too. Between the pressure on the carotid knocking him out and the blow from falling, he was out. Eliot helped Kaira up as Parker got the door opened. Eliot and Kaira composed themselves as they followed Parker into the vault.</p><p>"It's a faster temp. I'm moving up the timetable. You guys as 4 and a half minutes." Nate said.</p><p>The trio walked into the room above the vault and Eliot handed the cord to Parker who was laying it with the help of Kaira. Eliot went to take watch, but the guard from earlier punched Eliot, knocking him back with a thud. Kaira perked up and ran over before he could go after Eliot and pushed him. He threw Kaira, then Eliot into the stack of chairs. Eliot helped Kaira up and Kaira used herself as an anchor, kicking the goon's legs as Eliot punched his torso, many blows exchanged between the two, Eliot getting most of them in the face. The guard got Eliot down and Kaira moved to just straight up choke the guy, but he was still fighting Eliot, ramming him into a chalkboard. Parker held up the detonator, causing Kaira to get off as Eliot kicked the guy, sending him into the circle as Kaira and Eliot ran to the door, holding each other. The music got quieter, building up as the trio was waiting for the cue.</p><p>The music started building up, Nate cueing them to blow the cord.</p><p>Parker blew it, sending the guard down as the music died down. Eliot flung the rope down.</p><p>Nate left to meet up with the trio.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira checked one last time they were clear before jumping down. Parker was looking at the contents of the safe. Eliot dragged the guard away as Nate jumped down.</p><p>"Open it up." Nate said, out of breath</p><p>Parker picked the lock on the safe and opened it.</p><p>Hardison was scared to death as his solo played. He played beautifully, causing the team to stop. They were mesmerized.</p><p>Kaira held Eliot, who was holding in his chest. Kaira had a hint of a smile as the team realized Hardison had done it. They were entranced by Hardison playing. Hardison ended his solo and the crowd cheered. Hardison bowed and was so happy. The timer had run out. Soon an alarm started blaring. The team realized the motion sensors had been engaged again. The team came to their senses as the group in the vault tried to find a way out.</p><p>"What are you doing here?" Parker asked Nate.</p><p>"I-I'll explain later. Let's just get out of here." Nate said over the alarm blaring. Nate went to grab the rope, but it was pulled up.</p><p>"You got an exit plan?" Eliot asked as Parker cut the contents of the first safe she opened back.</p><p>"Hold it right there." The guard ordered, drawing his gun.</p><p>"Ah, working on it." Nate said. "Uh, Sophie, any ideas?" Nate asked, looking around.</p><p>Stall." Sophie said, not seeing another option</p><p>"Uh, guys, Moto and his brother just left. And I don't know about y'all, but it wasn't me, cause, uh, I just rocked it, you know." Hardison said, still in shock from the praise he was getting.</p><p>"Okay, listen Hardison, just stay where you are and don't blow your cover." Nate ordered.</p><p>"Rodger that." Hardison said, accepting the applause.</p><p>Just then both Moto brothers and security arrived at the vault.</p><p>"How's it going?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"What's going on here?" Simeon Moto, the President, asked.</p><p>"A burglary. We turned off the motion sensors for the concert. They're very clever. My men can handle it." Moto said as a goon helped the downed gon up, who had regained consciousness.</p><p>The goon went to go after Eliot, who was ready to fight. Kaira got ready to fight again. Moto stopped his guy.</p><p>"Call the police." Moto ordered his goon.</p><p>"Oh, that's no fun." Kaira pretended to whine.</p><p>"You see? I told you it wasn't necessary to follow me." Moto said. "Yes. You did." Simeon said.</p><p>Moto put a hand on his brother's shoulder, turning him. "This is why you can never have too much security." Moto said, going to leave.</p><p>"Mr. President, wait." Nate said, causing the Moto's to turn around. "Can I tell you a story about your - your brother here and how he lured you here tonight to assassinate you?" Nate said, getting Simeon's interest.</p><p>"Oh-ho, the thief speaks. Who knew we would be entertained twice tonight? Please, go on." Moto said.</p><p>"Think about it. Last-minute concert in a hall your brother owns, him wailing over your bleeding body live on the radio, instantly bonding himself to the thousands listening back home." Nate said, selling the story.</p><p>"Well, that'll be a hell of a way to become a tyrant." Kaira said, mocking Moto.</p><p>"And who would foil this plot? You and your... team of burglars?" Moto said.</p><p>"Woah. Have some class." Kaira mocked again.</p><p>"Burglars? No, no, we're not in it for the money. We wanted this." Nate said, showing the envelope to Motto. "See, Mr. President, this envelope contains the names of terrorists living in Africa that you - your brother supplies us with at his leisure for a price. This is what happens when you play with the CIA, Mr. Moto. We take what we need." Nate said.</p><p>"You can't be serious." Moto said, trying to play it off.</p><p>"I turned a blind eye to these rumors about you for too long." Simeon said, shocked at what he had heard.</p><p>"This is insane! Can't you see? He's telling you a story! Every detail more outlandish than the last." Moto said</p><p>"If he is lying, then go ahead. Open the envelope." Simeon ordered his brother.</p><p>"Yes. Open the envelope." Nate said, handing it to Moto</p><p>"It is not what he says. I can't open it. It doesn't belong to me." Moto whispered to his brother, though Kaira could hear it.</p><p>Then someone from the security detail came in. "Mr. President, there's something you should know. We just found a rifle in the projection room. With a clean print on th scope." The guard revealed.</p><p>See, the lense that Sophie mentioned, was a rifle scope, which she assembled in the projection room, and placed the print on it.</p><p>"It was my brother. He is responsible!" Simeon accused Alexander.</p><p>"No, no, i-it's - she's behind this! No, she lied to me!" Moto yelled as Sophie joined them. Moto was being escorted out of the vault. "My brother's being duped by these thieves!" Moto yelled.</p><p>"<em>Tiranos sao eleitos e depostos. Leis sao passadas e repelidas. Nacoes surgem e caem. A liberdade do individuo e' eterna'</em>." Kaira spoke out loud as Moto looked at the team.</p><p>Simeon turned back to Nate and the team. Simeon then turned to his guys, motioning them for them to leave. Simeon left, leaving the team in the vault.</p><p>"How'd you know what was in the envelope?" Parker asked Nate.</p><p>"I didn't." Nate revealed, causing a chuckle from Kaira.</p><p>"Made for a hell of a story. Just like Scheherazade." Kaira smiled, kinda amused.</p><p>"Yeah. Thank you." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot turned to Kaira. "Sweetheart, what was it you said to Moto?" Eliot asked Kaira./</p><p>""Tyrants are elected and deposed. Laws are passed and repelled. Nations come and go. The individual's freedom is 'eternal'." (If I messed up the translation from Portuguese, let me know.) It's Portuguese." Kaira smiled as the team chuckled</p><p>They left and Nate went back up to the prop room, sitting on a barstool as he handed the envelope to the Italian.</p><p>"You didn't open it." The Italian realized</p><p>"I don't open other people's mail. It's a pretty serious crime." Nate said. He took a breath. "So you owe me now." Nate said.</p><p>"We have a deal - to get Moreau." The Italian said, reiterating the deal.</p><p>"That envelope is not a chain to Moreau, is it? Otherwise, you would just hand it over to me right now, wouldn't you? No, it's a link in the chain to you." Nate revealed, getting up and going behind The Italian, causing her to turn to face him. "That's why you knew it was in Moto's safe... And what it looked like. You saw him put it in there, didn't you." Nate said, taunting the Italian, getting in her space.</p><p>"Mr. Ford, in the service of good, sometimes we have to make deal with bad people and do bad things." The Italian said.</p><p>"Really? Cause I work with a bunch of bad guys who are more honorable than you will ever be. If we're gonna have this arrangement, never play me again." Nate said. He left the room and the team went back to the bar.</p><p>The next day, Nate, Eliot, and Kaira met with Jane to give her the good news</p><p>"I still can't believe it. My article is finally published, and the lead is, "Alexander Moto is in an American jail"." Jane said, excited about the news</p><p>"Yes, well, it turned out that the secret service did not take kindly to people trying to assassinate foreign leaders on their watch." Nate said.</p><p>"But, Mr. Ford, that is just a story, right?" Jane asked Nate.</p><p>"Well, right, I mean, yeah, the charges aren't gonna stick. But it was enough to get a warrant to search his vault, which turned up a mess of smuggled diamonds." Nate revealed.</p><p>"And the fact is, he's never gonna be president now." Eliot said. (Anybody else sing that or just me?) Jane chuckled softly.</p><p>Nate handed Jane a check. "We, uh, we have this for you." Nate said, haniding the check to Jane, who took it hesitantly.</p><p>"No, no. The diamonds..." Jane said, going to hand the check back.</p><p>"Have nothing to do with that. No, see, what happened is, we... we ended up with this Stradivarius. We thought that the money could be used for the good people of Wadata, maybe a music foundation for the kids?" Nate suggested.</p><p>"You could set that up, Jane." Kaira said, smiling as Jane's shock.</p><p>"It was his idea." Nate said, turning to Eliot.</p><p>Eliot scootched over as Nate left. He smiled at Jane, proud to be able to do this one thing. "Still, I wish we could do more." Eliot said.</p><p>"What is it your friend said to Moto? Help a single child, you are a hero? Small acts can have ripple effects." Jane said.</p><p>Eliot smiled, thinking about what she said.</p><p>She left soon after. Kaira sat across from Eliot, moving her drink and grabbing his hand. "You know, Jane is right. If Blackpoole hadn't refused to pay for Kasey's chemo, then she wouldn't have died, I wouldn't have joined the army, I wouldn't have met you, I wouldn't have met Nate, Hardison, Parker, and Sophie. I wouldn't have gotten the courage to admit I was in love with you, you wouldn't have asked me out, you wouldn't have proposed, Nate wouldn't have walk me down the aisle, and I wouldn't be here, holding the hand of the love of my life, who I plan to go to bed with and fully enjoy it, looking at your blue eyes and riding that built body." Kaira said, a flirtatious smirk on her face. Eliot also had the same smirk on his face.</p><p>"Well, what are we waiting for?" Eliot asked, down with the idea.</p><p>They left, ignoring Hardison, Parker, and Sophie at the bar.</p><p>"Where are you going?" Parker asked, spotting the couple before they left the door.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot groaned as they turned Parker. "Having some personal time." Kaira answered with a wink, leaving again as they went up.</p><p>Hardison got the message.</p><p>"You had a recording of the solo in a gizmo. That made it come out of the violin." Parker said, trying to figure out how Hardison played so well.</p><p>"No. No, Parker. You don't just jam a gizmo into a Strad, okay? I just - I let it rip. It was-" Hardison said, still amazed at himself.</p><p>"Well, I still can't believe you can play like that." Parker said.</p><p>"You? I can't believe it." Hardison said.</p><p>"It's because I hypnotized you." Nate revealed, sitting down at the bar.</p><p>Parker chuckled.</p><p>""You serious?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Yeah, I-I put you in a deep trance state and regressed you back to when you played violin as a teenager. I mean, you knew how to play all along, but I-I cleaned out the cobwebs. I just gave you the confidence to be the best version of you I knew you could be." Nate explained. Nate thought back to when he hypnotized Hardison before he woke up from his nap, and when Nate yelled at Hardison for napping.</p><p>"A vegas hypnotist can pick out a candidate in a crowd, and... so can I." Sophie revealed her part.</p><p>Hardison stood up some. "Nate... Hypnosis is something you do on a mark, not your own crew." Hardison said, not liking he was hypnotized.</p><p>"No, no, no. It's exactly what you do to your own crew. Yeah, you push whatever button you need to to get them to do what needs to be done. You wanted to know what other quality you needed to run your own crew. Well, that's it. And you don't have it." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison knocked on the counter and left, Parker not far behind him.</p><p>Sophie looked at Nate. "Alone again. If I didn't know you better, I'd think you like it like that." Sophie said, also leaving.</p><p>Nate was alone at the bar. And it did seem Nate liked being alone. But, he didn't.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! So, here is the video of the chapter! </p><p>(Warning: Naughty Language)<br/>https://youtu.be/43o9sYUMJa8<br/>So I love this video because each verse definitely describes Eliot, Hardison, and Parker. Plus this song is fun to listen to, and the video is done pretty damn good.</p><p>With that out of the way, remember to give kudos and share this story with your friends! Much love to you all! Stay Safe! </p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. The Double Blind Job (3x5)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What started out as a simple day out with Kaira, Hardison, and Eliot to get coffee turns into a job when the trio saves a woman from being chased by fake FBI agents. They discover the woman had just had a conversation with a man who knew information about her sister's death, and they find a link to a pharmaceutical company whose new product has a sinister secret. Now the team has to infiltrate the world of Big Pharma to take them down.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I'm back again! I said I was gonna crank out the chapters, so I'll try to keep going. As I said, my goal is to release "The Ho Ho Ho Job" just before Christmas, so let's hope I can make it! Here is chapter 5 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira were walking out onto the sidewalk where a woman was being chased by two men who looked like FBI. The woman ran into Hardison as she fell and Hardison caught her and helped her up, asking if she was okay as Kaira went over and helped her up as well. Just then, the men chasing her flashed FBI badges at them. It was obvious they were fake.</p><p>"FBI, sir. That young lady is in our custody." The guy said.</p><p>"Hardison and Kaira chuckled. "Oh, see, you made two mistakes, Bro. First, you flashed that fake-ass FBI badge at me. Second, you spilled his coffee." Hardison said, pointing to Eliot.</p><p>Kaira looked at Eliot. He was holding his coffee cup and had coffee down the front of his white shirt, getting pissed.</p><p>"See, he has a bit of a temper when it comes to his coffee." Kaira warned as Eliot tossed his coffee up and went after the two guys, beating the crap out of them as Hardison held the poor woman, covering her face from the brutal sight of Eliot beating the ever-loving shit out of the fake FBI guys. Kaira turned away.</p><p>"See, I - I got your back." Hardison said, looking back at Eliot.</p><p>Once Eliot was satisfied, he zipped up his blue hoodie and Kaira ordered him a new coffee and met Nate back at the bar to get the girl's story.</p><p>Eliot went back up to his and Kaira's apartment, getting changed out of his bloody and coffee stained white shirt</p><p>Nate sat beside Kaira, and across was Hardison on his laptop and the woman, who introduced herself as Ashley Moore. She explained her story. "My sister was part of the drug trial for a new medication called HT1. A week into the trial, she suffered acute liver failure and died." Ashley explained.</p><p>"Did the drug company offer a settlement?" Nate asked.</p><p>"JRP Pharmaceuticals, the company sponsoring the trial, they sent a very attractive man in a suit to our said nobody else had any side effects and it was a freak accident. He sat at our kitchen table and he wrote a number on a piece of paper, sitting at the kitchen table where she used to eat pancakes." Ashley said. Ashley started tearing up as Hardison side hugged her.</p><p>Kaira offered her hand for Ashley, knowing how she felt.</p><p>"So your parents declined any kind of settlement, right?" Nate asked.</p><p>"I convinced them not to. I gave them a great speech about how Lisa's life couldn't be bought. How I'd make the people who killed her take responsibility." Ashley said, calming down some.</p><p>"Yeah, but that never happened." Nate said, thinking about his son.</p><p>"Yeah." Kaira said, knowing how Nate was feeling.</p><p>"It sounds like you've been there." Ashley said, sympathetic.</p><p>"Close enough." Nate said.</p><p>"Me too." Kaira said, trying to keep herself calm.</p><p>Hardison understood.</p><p>"We sued, but JRP claimed Lisa had a preexisting condition. We lost." Ashley continued her story.</p><p>"Yeah, causation is the hardest thing to prove in these cases." Nate said.</p><p>"We couldn't find a lawyer who would take our appeal. I've spent three years looking for any new evidence. And I found nothing until Dr. Roberts contacted me. And now he's gone." Ashley said, thinking her one lead was gone.</p><p>"Well, we'll - we'll find him. Just, we're happy that you're ok." Nate said.</p><p>"Thanks to Alec." Ashley said, grabbing Hardison's arm in comfort. "I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't been there." Ashley said, acting like Hardison was a knight in shining armor.</p><p>Kaira caught Parker looking at Hardison and Ashley, looking sad. Kaira immediately knew why.</p><p>"Now before Dr. Roberts disappeared, did he leave you anything?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Anything that'll help us pick up where he left off." Kaira said, ignoring Parker temporarily.</p><p>Ashley dug in her bag, pulling out a napkin. "Just this." Ashley said, handing the napkin to Nate and Kaira.</p><p>Nate and Kaira looked at it. "Arcadia and a bunch of names. I don't know, here." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison pulled up Arcadia. "Ok. Arcadia's a town about 30 miles from here. But I got nothing on the names." Hardison said.</p><p>"None of these are linked to Arcadia?" Nate asked.</p><p>"No, like nothing, nothing. No school records, no addresses, no birth certificates. They've been erased." Hardison explained.</p><p>Kaira was confused. "That's odd." Kaira said, trying to think.</p><p>"But I did find Dr. Roberts." Hardison said. He flipped his laptop to show it to Nate and Kaira. It was a series of pictures of Dr. Roberts.</p><p>"Wow! You found that while we were sitting here?" Ashley questioned, amazed.</p><p>"Oh, yeah. It's nothing." Hardison said, like it wasn't a big deal.</p><p>"It's amazing. I've always wanted to do that." Ashley said, looking at Hardison.</p><p>"Well, I-I could show you some stuff, as soon as I get your refill." Hardison said</p><p>Kaira eyed Hardison walking to the bar when Parker interrupted. Kaira listened as she looked at the information with Nate.</p><p>"Hey, what do we know about her? Did you do a background check?" Parker asked Hardison, clearly something off about her.</p><p>"She's a nice girl who needs our help." Hardison said, grabbing the filled drink.</p><p>"Yeah, she could be a spy or a terrorist. She looks kind of like a terrorist." Parker said.</p><p>Hardison dismissed it. "Yeah, I'm going to keep my eye on her. Kaira, too." Hardison said, walking back to the table.</p><p>"Yeah." Parker said. She walked over and pulled a chair over. Parker leaned back in the chair and stared Ashley down.</p><p>Nate saw Parker was there and told Hardison what he found. "Yeah, according to this, uh, up until eight months ago, Dr. Roberts worked for JRP Pharmaceuticals." Nate said, looking at Parker while he was speaking, with Parker telling him to keep going.</p><p>"That's the company that made HT1." Ashley said, now knowing why Dr. Roberts knew about the trial.</p><p>"Ok, now JRP Pharmaceuticals was bought by Pallagen Laboratories." Hardison explained, looking at the laptop."Dr. Roberts and all the other researchers were let go." Hardison explained.</p><p>"All right, maybe - maybe we should maybe take this to the, uh-" Nate whispered, giving the hint.</p><p>"Poker room?" Hardison filled in, knowing the drill</p><p>"Yep. Kaira, where's your husband?" Nate asked Kaira, noticing he wasn't there.</p><p>"Eliot had to change his shirt. Got coffee on it, blood and some teeth from the guys he beat up." Kaira explained, awkward slightly.</p><p>"Uh, yeah, ok. But why don't you call him and, uh, tell him to go to Dr. Roberts' home address, Kaira you go with him. And Parker, you and Sophie will do things the old-fashioned way. Knock on some doors in Arcadi - Parker." Nate said, noticing Parker was zoned out.</p><p>Parker hummed, hearing Nate.</p><p>"You want to go knock on some doors in Arcadia." Nate said, handing the napkin to Parker.</p><p>"Right, got it." Parker said. She looked at Hardison like she was mad and left to go get Sophie.</p><p>"All right." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison pointed to leave and they did.</p><p>Kaira made a note to talk to Parker at some point. Kaira walked into her and Eliot's apartment and went into the bedroom. "Babe! Nate wants us to check out an address. You ready?" Kaira called out to Eliot.</p><p>"Just a second, sweetheart." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira was about to get up but then Eliot came out of the bathroom. He put on a different pair of jeans and a red wine-colored polo. He had his black hair up in a half ponytail</p><p>Kaira smiled as she walked over to him. "Like the shirt, babe." Kaira teased, holding Eliot.</p><p>Eliot smiled. "Well, better than having blood and coffee on it." Eliot quipped as he leaned in to Kaira.</p><p>Kaira pecked his lips and let go. She quickly grabbed a hair tie and put her hair up in a ponytail. Just then her phone vibrated. Kaira looked at it. "Got the address." Kaira said. "Ready to go?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Yeah. Let's go." Eliot said. Eliot drove to the address that Hardison sent Kaira.</p><p>Soon, they arrived. Kaira and Eliot put on gloves and Eliot had his black faux leather jacket with the white stripe on the sleeves, and Kaira had on a blue zip up hoodie, her black shirt peaking out the top and her black gloves on.</p><p>Eliot knocked on the door. No answer. Kaira tried the doorknob as Eliot knocked again. The door was locked.</p><p>"The door's locked and nobody's answering." Eliot reported.</p><p>Back at the bar, Hardison finished his set up as Nate watched.</p><p>"All right, well, see if you can break-in, but be subtle." Nate ordered as Hardison went to his laptop and Ashley was next to him.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah." Eliot growled. He kicked the door in just as Kaira was about to get her lockpicks out of her pocket. Eliot made sure the door didn't bang everywhere, putting his hand up to stop the door.</p><p>"Not subtle." Nate retorted, hearing the bang.</p><p>"Babe. Subtle." Kaira said, giving a bitch face to Eliot.</p><p>Eliot ignored her.</p><p>"Dr. Roberts?" Kaira called out, wondering if he was hiding.</p><p>The couple looked around a bit, finding what clues they could. Eliot found car keys on the table, keys that went to a BMW. "Pretty small apartment to be driving a BMW." Eliot said.</p><p>"Hardison?" Kaira said, knowing the question for Hardison to answer.</p><p>"He doesn't drive a BMW. He drives a moped." Hardison filled in.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot looked at the keys. Eliot pulled the top of the car key, revealing a flash drive insert.</p><p>"It's a flashdrive." Kaira said.</p><p>"Okay, well, plug it into your phone." Hardison said.</p><p>"Really?" Eliot questioned, annoyed. He plugged the drive-in and held the phone in between him and Kaira. The data was transferring to Hardison. "You getting this?" Eliot asked.</p><p>Hardison pulled up the data on his laptop and looked through it. "Ok. According to these files, Dr. Roberts was meeting with a Darren Hoffman. And Hoffman was trying to buy something from him for 200,000 dollars." Hardison realized, not liking the information</p><p>"It sounds like a bribe." Nate said.</p><p>"No, no, no. There's nothing in his account that shows up that big. If it wasn't a bribe, he didn't take it." Hardison said.</p><p>"All right, well, we've got to figure out who this, uh, Hoffman guy is." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison started typing on his laptop. "Give me a second. Cross-referencing Dr. Roberts' cell records with this file, and - ok." Hardison pulled up a website for a new drug. "Hoffman is the CEO of Pallagen Laboratories." Hardison said.</p><p>"Pallagen is the company that brought JRP Pharmaceuticals." Ashley said, making the connection.</p><p>"Hm." Nate hummed.</p><p>Hardison pulled up more information. "Whoa! It-it shows that Hoffman doesn't have a background in medicine or science. He's a career executive. He started with finance, went to telecom, jumped to software, and then he jumped to the top spot in Pallagen a year ago." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Yeah. I know his type." Nate said, standing up. "Yeah, well, he's chasing the CEO chair. He's moving from company to company, juicing their profits, and using the publicity to move on to the next corporation." Nate walked over to the bar and poured a drink. "No loyalty." Nate said.</p><p>"But what could Hoffman want from Dr. Roberts that's worth 200,000 dollars?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Well -" Nate said, pouring the drink in his glass.</p><p>"We found your Dr. Roberts." Eliot reported. Dr. Roberts was dead, laying on his couch.</p><p>"They made it look like a heart attack." Kaira filled in.</p><p>"What do you mean, made it look?" Nate asked. The trio at the poker room getting anxious.</p><p>"Well, there's nine places a professional will use to deliver an injection." Eliot said, looking at the face, then the hands, pulling up the stiff arm and unscrunging the fingers. "They went under the fingernail." Eliot said, putting the arm back.</p><p>"Dr. Roberts was murdered." Kaira said, feeling bad that they lost that lead.</p><p>The trio in the poker room looked at each other, knowing the stakes were higher now.</p><p>"Nate, we found the people in Arcadia." Sophie said at the cemetery, looking at the gravestone.</p><p>"Tiffany Helen, Michelle Coratola, Nicholas Paxton." Parker said.</p><p>"Ok, who have you talked to so far?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Well, that's not really an option." Sophie said, taking off her sunglasses. "They're all dead." Sophie revealed.</p><p>This was not good.</p><p>Later that night, the team met back up at HQ.</p><p>Sophie was filling in Nate what she found in a newspaper. "All right. Here it is. 15 people from Arcadia participated in the HT1 drug trial. 10 of them died of liver failure." Sophie filled in.</p><p>"Ashley's sister was not the only victim of HT1. See Hoffman, what he - oh, come on!" Nate tried to use the clicker but kept getting other screens. "Damn it, Hardison. You know, he keeps changing the settings." Nate said, still clicking the remote.</p><p>"Where is he? Where is Hardison?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"He's downstairs in the poker room. He's looking after Ashley. Parker's helping." Nate said, still playing with the clicker.</p><p>"Parker's helping?" Sophie questioned, knowing that wasn't good.</p><p>"Mn, mn." hummed. He finally got the clicker to work. "There! Okay, so after Pallagen buys JRP Pharmaceuticals, Hoffman has all the online records of Arcadia erased. Now luckily, his reach doesn't extend to the Acadia Public Library." Nate said.</p><p>"Mn, hm. So Roberts finds the connection between Hoffman and HT1. Hoffman offers him the 200 grand to silence him." Sophie realized.</p><p>"But Roberts doesn't take the bribe, so Hoffman has him erased." Nate realized.</p><p>Sophie chuckled, thinking of the perfect con to use. "I'm thinking the Swedish Rail con." Sophie said, looking at Nate.</p><p>"Eh, Cairo Flyer." Nate suggested.</p><p>"Oh. no way. I'm not wearing that dress again." Sophie said, dismissing the idea.</p><p>Then Nate and Sophie had the same idea. "The Double-Blind." Sophie and Nate said at the same time. Nate and Sophie gathered up the team and gave them the plan in the poker room.</p><p>"All right, so Parker and Kaira, you break into Hoffman's office, find out what Roberts had on him." Nate told Parker and Kaira.</p><p>"Yeah. A lot of pharmaceutical reps are hot out of cheerleading programs. Now you, Lori Sprang, you attended University of Iowa, where you were a cheerleader graduate with a 2.9 GPA, and you were also second runner up for the Miss Iowa Beauty Pageant." Hardison explained Parkers cover.</p><p>"A beauty queen?" Parker questioned.</p><p>"Oh, yeah. It's a nice touch, right? It was Ashley's idea." Hardison said, handing the passes to Ashley and Parker. "Pound it." Hardison told Ashley, and the fistbumped. "Kaira, you will be Alicia Winters, cheerleader at Iowa State along with Lori, 3.7 GPA, and third runner up at the Miss Iowa Beauty Pageant. And very good friends with Lori, who you met during cheer practice." Hardison explained Kaira's cover and handed her a badge.</p><p>Kaira took it and showed she liked her cover. "Meanwhile, uh, Sophie is going to establish a relationship with Hoffman, so that when we rattle his cage with your intel he's going to run to Sophie." Nate continued the plan.</p><p>"That's going to be tough for Sophie to make contact this week. His whole schedule is filled with this drug launch thing." Hardison explained.</p><p>"So get somebody else's appointment, like, how about her?" Nate suggested.</p><p>"Jennifer Pearson, FDA." Hardison explained, pulling up a picture of the woman.</p><p>"Uh, I'm sorry. How do you keep the real Jennifer Pearson from showing up?" Ashley asked.</p><p>"Eliot can distract her." Kaira suggested.</p><p>Nate went along with the plan.</p><p>Later that day, the team got covers ready and went into the building.</p><p>Parker and Kaira got ready to go into the office, and Eliot walked up to Pearson, who was getting her badge. "Miss Pearson." Eliot introduced himself.</p><p>"Hi." Jennifer said as she shook hands with Eliot.</p><p>"How are you? Phil, part of Mr. Hoffman's team. He's asked me to show you around." Eliot said.</p><p>"Oh, that's ok. I'm just here to sign some papers for the Vioplex launch. It's just a formality." Pearson said.</p><p>"Yes, ma'am. But see, here at Pallagen, we like to make sure that everyone we work with is part of the family. Ok?" Eliot said, flirting a bit to get Pearsons attention.</p><p>"All right." Pearson gave in.</p><p>"So do me the honor." Eliot said, still flirting.</p><p>"Sure, fine." Pearson said, confirming it was okay.</p><p>"Thank you so much. That way I get to keep my job." Eliot said, smiling as he escorted her away from the desk, putting his arm around her neck to hand the card to Sophie.</p><p>Sophie walked into Hoffman's office. "Mr. Hoffman, I'm-" Sophie was about to introduce herself.</p><p>"Jennifer Pearson, FDA, more red tape." Hoffman said, not even looking at Sophie. "Uh, we prefer to call them safety measures." Sophie said. She got Hoffman's attention, giving smiles.</p><p>Hoffman got up. "Of course, we take safety very seriously here at Pallagen." Hoffman said.</p><p>Sophie acted like she was starstruck. "I'm sorry, I've just - I've heard so many amazing things about this company and - and the man that runs it." Sophie said, softening her voice.</p><p>"Well, you know, you can't believe everything you hear." Hoffman said, grabbing papers for Sophie.</p><p>"I'm sure in this case I can. I know that you must be very busy, but I was hoping you might show me around. I'd love to discuss the possibility of doing some consulting for you." Sophie said.</p><p>"I'd be honored." Hoffman said.</p><p>Nate was back at HQ in the poker room, listening to everything. "Consulting is code for bribe." Nate said, looking at Hardison and Ashley, who were looking at the monitors. "Doctors who review rugs for the FDA are allowed by law to take consulting fees from the drug companies." Nate explained.</p><p>"Mm, hm. See, it's 50,000 to each doctor on the FDA panel, 200,000 to the Director of the New York Medical School To speak at the Pain Awareness Institute. And then 25,000 to each celebrity that attends the annual dinner at the Institute." Hardison explained, looking at his laptop.</p><p>"What's the Pain Awareness Institute?" Ashley asked.</p><p>"Uh, it's a foundation set up by Hoffman and Pallagen to legally funnel bribes." Nate explained.</p><p>"This is legal?" Ashley asked.</p><p>"We're in the wrong business, man." Hardison said.</p><p>"Parker, Kaira, Sophie's cleaning out Hoffman. Get in position." Nate ordered the girls.</p><p>"Let me, um, show you around our humble facility." Hoffman suggested, going to escort Sophie out.</p><p>"Ha, ha. I'm sure it's not humble at all." Sophie said. She exited the room, putting a magnet on the lock to keep the door unlocked. "I'm clear." Sophie whispered.</p><p>"Parker, Kaira, you're up." Nate ordered.</p><p>Parker didn't move and Kaira cleared her throat to get Parker's attention.</p><p>"Parker!" Nate repeated, causing Parker to stand up.</p><p>"Oh, and we have a volunteer. Thank you Lori." The woman said, excited, and moved Parker towards the front.</p><p>"Uh, she wasn't volunteering." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>"I just had to use the little girl's room." Parker whispered to try and get out of it.</p><p>The woman tried to get Parker to volunteer, and Parker wasn't having it, so she got up.</p><p>"Sorry, it really is an emergency." Kaira grabbed Parker, and quickly got her of the room, much to the objection of the woman in charge.</p><p>"Parker and Kaira walked to Hoffman's office. Parker walked in, as Kaira kept watch. Kaira quickly shut the blinds as Parker got to work copying the files on Hoffman's computer. The files loaded up on the monitor on Hardison's system.</p><p>"Locked file on a locked workstation, I smell secrets." Hardison said. He started decrypting the file. "Aw, 256 bit AES encryption, how adorable." Hardison said as more files popped up.</p><p>"Wait, hold on." Nate said, noticing something. "This right here. Make that bigger." Nate said, pointing to the picture of the chemical formula for Vioplex. Nate grabbed the picture of HT1 he had in front of him and walked to the monitor. He looked at both images and compared them. "It's identical." Nate said.</p><p>"It's HT1." Ashley pointed out. She stood up. "I've spent three years learning everything I could about the drug that killed my sister. That is HT1." Ashley said.</p><p>"Ok, so I thought Roberts made a connection between HT1 and Hoffman. Now it's between HT1 and Vioplex." Nate said.</p><p>Sophie was still walking with Hoffman, not liking the news.</p><p>"Hoffman is going to release HT1 as Vioplex. Nathan, a lot of people are gonna die if we fail." Kaira pointed out, not liking the stakes.</p><p>A few moments later, Hardison and Ashley were looking at the picture again. "Vioplex is HT1. I mean, here, they just added a time-released protein inhibitor. It'll delay the liver failure, or hide the symptoms. Instead of dying in months, it could take years." Ashley explained.</p><p>"Let me see the bribes again." Nate said, pacing behind the duo.</p><p>Hardison pulled them up.</p><p>"Ok, so those are all people you would pay off if you were trying to push through a toxic drug." Nate said.</p><p>"Oh, he can't get away with this. No." Hardison said, not liking the stakes.</p><p>"Listen, the FDA, they get 500,000 complaints every year about bad side effects. By the time anyone figures out what's going on, Hoffman will be long gone into his next CEO gig." Nate explained.</p><p>"And he'll never be held accountable for the people he killed?" Ashley questioned.</p><p>"That's right. We need physical evidence that HT1 and Vioplex are the same thing. We need the HT1 vials." Nate realized.</p><p>"You think they still have them?" Ashley asked.</p><p>"Yeah. Drug companies keep samples of everything." Nate said.</p><p>"They still got vials of smallpox in over a dozen countries." Hardison said.</p><p>"Do I want to know which countries?" Ashley asked.</p><p>"Parker, Kaira, I need you to look around Hoffman's office for anything that tells us where he keeps the samples." Nate ordered, exiting the poker room. "We need to get the FDA to crack down on Vioplex. Eliot, don't lose Jennier Pearson, all right. We're going to get the vials to her before the launch. She is now part of the con." Nate ordered standing at the bar.</p><p>"Dude, she's on a flight in two hours." Eliot said, still keeping Pearson distracted.</p><p>"Well, do not let her get on the plane." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot tried to convince Pearson to stay by flirting with her.</p><p>Kaira immediately went to the bookshelf beside the desk, which Kaira moved a couple of the notebooks when Parker came over. "We found a safe." Kaira reported.</p><p>Eliot finally flirted his way to get Pearson to stay, saying she had to make a phone call.</p><p>"Nice work, babe." Kaira complimented as Parker very easily found the safe combination, which was Hoffman's birthday. "You okay with me flirting?" Eliot whispered.</p><p>"Yeah. As long as you come back to me at the end of the night, so we can share the bed later." Kaira said, teasing Eliot as he tried to recover to take Pearson on a tour of the city.</p><p>Parker opened the safe and pulled out documents with Pallagens label on it. The third folder Parker looked at had something. She showed Kaira what it is. "Ok, I got something." Parker said. She used her phone and scanned the pages, which got sent to Hardison back at the poker room.</p><p>"All right. Now that, that right there, that is so-" Hardison said. Just then, his laptop started beeping. "-not good. Parker, Kaira, security is on their way to Hoffman's office right now. You got to get out. " Hardison said.</p><p>"No, no. No, Parker, Kaira, you don't get out. You stay right where you are until we got what we need." Nate said, at the bar drinking.</p><p>Hardison didn't like that. "How much time do we have?" Parker asked.</p><p>"60 seconds?" Kaira questioned.</p><p>"No, 40. Uh, 35. No, now 20." Hardison said, leaving the poker room to find Nate.</p><p>"No, you got 19. You're gonna stay where you are." Nate ordered as Parker and Karia quickly tried to find something.</p><p>Hardison walked up to Nate in the bar. "Nate, look, security is literally seconds away from Hoffman's office." Hardison told Nate.</p><p>"We need those vials." Nate said.</p><p>"We also need Parker and Kaira." Hardison told Nate off when Parker put everything back and they left, grabbing the magnet to lock the door.</p><p>Later that night, everyone was in HQ as Nate was in the bar and Sophie walked in, in a huff. "Oh, good. Listen, I need you to go to-" Nate was about to say to Sophie, walking up to him when Sophie interrupted.</p><p>"What the hell was that? You pushed Parker and Kaira way past the red line in that office today." Sophie said, not happy.</p><p>"Well, I made the call." Nate argued.</p><p>"Because it was a medical company? Because anything that reminds you of your son." Sophie argued.</p><p>"Now, listen, since when do you question what-" Nate was about to ask when Sophie answered.</p><p>"Since you went off the rails and we had to pull you out of prison, and ended up getting blackmailed, thank you, very much." Sophie argued.</p><p>"Fair enough." Nate said, realizing Sophie had a point.</p><p>"Look, you still run this group. But you're a thief now, just like me. And that means I can call you out any time I think you're out of control." Sophie argued.</p><p>Nate took a breath. "And if I say no?" Nate asked.</p><p>"I'll walk." Sophie said, causing Nate to scoff. "And remember Nate, I'm the only one who actually likes you. Besides Kaira." Sophie said, walking away.</p><p>At HQ, Eliot and Kaira were sitting at the table, Eliot's head was down, and Kaira was rubbing his neck and back to help his muscles. Hardison was at the other chair.</p><p>"Little Jennifer Pearson's wearing you out, ain't she?" Hardison questioned, amused.</p><p>"Dude, we walked the Freedom Trail twice." Eliot groaned out.</p><p>"Nice." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot lifted his head up. "No, man. The actual Freedom Trail. We took paddle boats to the public garden, shopped on Newbury Street. I went to something called the Boston Duck Tour." Eliot groaned, still not happy.</p><p>Hardison chuckled.</p><p>"Hey, you won't be chuckling once you got to deal with his grumpy ass." Kaira retorted, giving Hardison the death stare, knowing she was gonna have to listen to Eliot's whining later.</p><p>Eliot groaned in response. Hardison backed off. Nate walked in.</p><p>"Yo, the information I got from Hoffman's office confirms that he's still got vials of HT1 in Pallagen storage. Thing is, the vials are stored in a case amongst hundreds of other cases in one of 10 storage facilities. Now if I do my math, that means this case-" Hardison explained as Nate sat down at his desk and Eliot started banging his head off the table, with Kaira still massaging his neck.</p><p>"It's gonna be hard to find." Eliot groaned, keeping his head down.</p><p>"I believe I was making that point." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot groaned some more.</p><p>"Well, we are going to get Hoffman to lead us to the vials. We'll use Sophie's friendship with him to get information. Then I'll enter the game to push." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot perked up hearing that part. "You realize the last guy that pushed Hoffman ended up dead?" Eliot questioned.</p><p>"Yeah, well, let him take his best shot, I'll see who walks away this time." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira looked at each other. "Prison's changed him." Hardison said, worried for Nate.</p><p>"Better or worse?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Still not sure." Kaira said.</p><p>Eliot laid his head back down.</p><p>"Come on, Cowboy. Let's go home and get some eucalyptus oil on your muscles." Kaira said, standing up.</p><p>Hardison chuckled more as Kaira helped Eliot walk into the bedroom.</p><p>Eliot started taking his shirt off as Kaira grabbed the lotion she had from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She walked back into the bedroom and Eliot sat on the edge of the bed, smiling at Kaira as she got behind Eliot on the bed. She put the lotion on her hands and rubbed it on Eliot's shoulder. Eliot winced at the coldness of the lotion. "Oh, sorry. Should've warned you, Eliot." Kaira said, feeling bad.</p><p>"It's okay." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira finished and went to go put the lotion back and wash her hands. Kaira came back, and was about to start changing into pajamas when Eliot grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him, causing Kaira to yip and chuckle as she landed in Eliot's lap.</p><p>"Thank you." Eliot smiled at Kaira.</p><p>Kaira put her arms around Eliot's neck. "For what?" Kaira asked softly.</p><p>"For taking care of me." Eliot said, causing smiles to appear on both of their faces. "I'm your wife, Eliot. It's my job." Kaira said.</p><p>"Yeah, but you always put up with all my shit, whether it was before we dated, or even after we got married. You put up with a lot from me. I appreciate it." Eliot said, a sense of sincerity in his voice.</p><p>Kaira smiled back at him. "That's also under the whole, being your partner clause." Kaira joked, causing chuckles from the couple. "Seriously though, Eliot, I don't mind stitching you up or rubbing lotion into your muscles because you overdid it, or even cleaning blood from your clothes. It's just a small thing to deal with when it comes to being married to you. I know that. I accepted that I was gonna have to deal with your grumpy ass when I met you and I saw a future with you. Question is, do you accept that fact that someone wants to take care of you?" Kaira looked at Eliot.</p><p>Eliot took a breath, a moment to speak truthfully. "Yes. I know I don't always take care of myself, which is why I'm glad I have you. You take care of me when I don't." Eliot answered.</p><p>Kaira smiled. "And you take care of me. You make sure I'm not hurt, you cook and make sure I eat. And it does feel does to have someone care about you, and feel loved." Kaira smiled at Eliot.</p><p>"C'mere." Eliot said softly as he held Kaira's neck and gently pulled her face to his, kissing her lips softly as their eyes were closed. They let go and Kaira chuckled and got up to get changed for bed.</p><p>Kaira changed and went to bed with Eliot.</p><p>The next day, Sophie and Hoffman met for brunch, drinking martini's and Sophie planted a button cam on Hoffman's jacket, with Nate approaching Hoffman, saying he had the vials and wanted money for them. As to the plan, Hoffman went to the storage facility to check where the vials were.</p><p>At the poker room, Nate, Hardison, Parker, Ashley, and Kaira watched the feed for Hardison's laptop.</p><p>"Thank you, Mr. Hoffman." Nate said.</p><p>"GPS enabled, hi-def button cam." Hardison said.</p><p>"Now Parker, look. We have the location, all right. Got the access codes and we have a case number. All you have to do is go pick the lock on the cage. Now I'm going to compare Hoffman's path with yours, and, uh, lead you to the right room." Hardison said, handing Parker the button cam.</p><p>"Good luck." Ashley said as she was all smiles.</p><p>"Luck?" Parker said, dismissive. "Do I look like I need luck, huh?" Parker asked, knowing her job was gonna be easy.</p><p>Hardison put an arm on her shoulder. "Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, Parker. She just meant, like, you know?" Hardison said, calming Parker down.</p><p>Nate handed Parker the case. "Go do your magic." Nate ordered.</p><p>Parker walked with Kaira following. They exited the poker room. "Parker, what's your deal?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"What, what deal?" Parker asked, dismissing Kaira.</p><p>Kaira stopped Parker. "Ever since you laid eyes on Ashley, you've been off. What's going on?" Kaira repeated.</p><p>"Nothing." Parker dismissed it.</p><p>"Parker. You know why I was so scared to tell Eliot I loved him when we first met?" Kaira asked.</p><p>Parker seemed to show some vulnerability. "Why?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Because I was scared Eliot didn't feel the same. I always saw him flirting with other girls, and I was jealous of the girls because he was at first choosing them... instead of me. And I mean, I can't blame him, I never said anything. But you know what happened once I did?" Kaira said, close to her point.</p><p>"You got married?" Parker said, causing Kaira to chuckle.</p><p>"Yes, but that's not the point. I became okay with Eliot flirting to get the job done. Because I know, at the end of the day, I'm his and he is mine. So, if you love someone, you should tell them. You'll both feel better once you do." Kaira told Parker.</p><p>Parker shook her head and left.</p><p>Soon, Sophie came on comms, having entered the building. "I'm in." Sophie said. She waved to Hoffman, up on the balcony on the phone. "Hoffman's up to something. Hardison, are we tracking his phone?" Sophie said.</p><p>Kaira walked back into the poker room with Hardison, Ashley, and Nate.</p><p>"I've got a signal, I just don't have a connection point." Hardison said. Just then, Nate's phone rang. "And now I have my connection point." Hardison said.</p><p>Nate answered the phone. "Well, I've been expecting your call." Nate said.</p><p>"I know a good deal when I see one. You get your money, I get your silence." Hoffman said.</p><p>"Well, that's the deal." Nate said.</p><p>"But, I like to do these things in person. It eliminates the room for error. So you're gonna come to me for your payment." Hoffman said.</p><p>"Nate, don't." Kaira warned, not liking the sound of the deal.</p><p>"Say, Pallagen in 20 minutes." Hoffman said as Hardison and Kaira both warned against it.</p><p>"I'll be there." Nate said. He hung up the phone as Hardison and Kaira both showed they weren't happy. "What were you saying?" Nate asked, sarcastically.</p><p>"Nathan, it's a goddamn trap!" Kaira yelled.</p><p>"Do you want to end up like Dr. Roberts? All Hoffman has to do is send his goons out in the crowd to brush past you with a syringe." Sophie pointed out, not liking the deal.</p><p>"She's right, man. It's a suicide mission." Hardison objected.</p><p>All right, now, listen, listen. If I don't do it, it's gonna tip Hoffman off, and this whole thing will fall apart." Nate said, putting on his jacket. "So I guess the rest of you are just gonna have to get it done before they manage to kill me." Nate said.</p><p>Sophie began walking up to Hoffman as Kaira followed Nate out the door. "Nathan, what the hell!" Kaira exclaimed quietly at Nate as they left.</p><p>"Kaira, don't you start too." Nate warned.</p><p>"Or what? I'm coming anyways because I gotta watch your ass." Kaira took a breath in. "Nathan, I know why you're doing this." Kaira said.</p><p>Nate turned back and looked at Kaira. "Really?" Nate questioned.</p><p>"Yes, actually. I.Y.S wasn't the only company my parents turned to to help Kasey. There was a drug company that offered to give Kasey a drug as part of an experiment after Blackpoole denied the claim. The experimental drug was what killed her, Nathan. Not the cancer." Kaira said, getting a bit heated.</p><p>Nate exhaled, feeling bad for his daughter. "I didn't know-" Nate was about to say when Kaira cut him off.</p><p>"Just... stop. I don't need the sympathy talk from you. Not now. I get you want to take Hoffman down because you're thinking of Sam, and I'm not gonna pretend I know what's it's like to lose a kid, Nathan, but I do know what it's like to lose someone. And I guess going into the army was probably like suicide at the time, but I got a reason to fight now, Nathan. You gave me a reason to fight! Now, I'm gonna protect you at the launch, cause you're the closest thing to a father that I have, and it's my job, dammit. After this, you have to fight for us, or you're gonna lose us." Kaira said, getting emotional.</p><p>Nate just stared at her, dumbfounded and in shock.</p><p>Kaira huffed and left out the door, Nate close behind.</p><p>20 minutes later, Nate and Kaira arrived at the conference. "I'm in." Nate said.</p><p>"I'm in." Kaira said.</p><p>"Does anyone see anything suspicious?" Nate asked.</p><p>Kaira made her way to the top of the deck, slowly scanning everyone. She spotted Eliot in the crowd.</p><p>"No, but that's kind of the point. They're gonna try to blend in. Look for guys who've got a couple of inches on everybody else here, and hands in their pocket, shoes that lace up a little too high." Eliot said.</p><p>"Copy, babe. Security guys always wear shoes to run in." Kaira added, still scanning the crowd.</p><p>"Narrows it down." Nate said.</p><p>"Don't you think?" Pearson walked up to Eliot.</p><p>"Yeah, sure." Eliot kind of brushed off.</p><p>"Were you even listening to me?" Pearson asked Eliot.</p><p>"Uh-" Eliot tried to play it off.</p><p>Kaira was amused slightly.</p><p>"You know, I've dated a lot of you drug company guys. You're all the same. You're nice, you're handsome and married to the job." Pearson said.</p><p>Eliot scanned the crowd.</p><p>"Look, I really enjoyed our time together, I'm just looking for someone whose a little less settled." Pearson said.</p><p>Eliot tried to talk but stumbled.</p><p>"It's not a criticism. You are a great guy. I'm just not looking for someone who sits behind a desk all day. I want someone who travels the world and takes risks. Somebody a little more dangerous." Pearson said.</p><p>"Right." Eliot tried to brush it off.</p><p>"I'm sorry." Pearson said, thinking she hurt Eliot's feelings, kissing his cheek.</p><p>"Uh, well, wait, uh, you're going to wait 'til after the launch to - sign the papers though, right?" Eliot asked Pearson.</p><p>Pearson went to put her hair up as Kaira was slightly amused. "Sure." Pearsons said.</p><p>"Ok." Eliot said.</p><p>"We can hang out, still be friends." Pearson said.</p><p>"We can still be friends." Eliot said, getting quiet.</p><p>"You alright, Eliot or you need time to shake it off?" Nate asked, amused slightly.</p><p>Kaira chuckled.</p><p>"Shut up. Let's get this show over with." Eliot growled.</p><p>"Don't worry, babe. Know that your southern charm works on me. And be glad to know that Pearson's missing out on a whole lot of adventure and danger, and that I get to see it all. Including that perky little ass of yours." Kaira teased, looking at Eliot's ass.</p><p>Eliot turned around quickly. "Damnit Kaira, not now." Eliot growled.</p><p>"Kiddo, not now." Nate warned, not wanting to deal with that right now.</p><p>"Alright." Kaira said, giving up.</p><p>"Hardison, how we doing on this vials?" Nate asked, leaning against the bar.</p><p>Hardison and Ashley were looking at the GPS from Parker's button cam. "Parker's two minutes out." Hardison reported.</p><p>Parker was walking through a hallway, holding the case.</p><p>Hardison saw Parker was going the wrong way. "Wait, wait. Stop, Parker, you're going the wrong way. Turn around." Hardison said.</p><p>Parker stopped and turned around and kept walking.</p><p>"All right, now make a right. There's a security camera over your right shoulder." Hardison reported</p><p>Parker saw the camera. "Got it." Parker said. She timed it right and walked over to the keypad. "What's the code?" Parker asked.</p><p>"What's the code?" Hardison asked Ashley.</p><p>"What? I-" Ashley said.</p><p>They quickly realized they didn't have the code, and it was a scramble as Hardison went through the footage and overlapped each other trying to figure out the code.</p><p>"Too many voices, okay? Too many voices. Too many voices!" Parker kept repeating trying to get them to shut up and tell her the code.</p><p>"Ok. It's, hold on, it's 511993." Hardison said.</p><p>Parker typed in the code and unlocked the door. "I'm in." Parker said. She opened the door and went in.</p><p>"Ok. Good, good, good." Hardison said.</p><p>Parker walked in to the vault.</p><p>Kaira watched as Nate accidentally picked the wrong guy, thinking his pen was a syringe.</p><p>"I triggered the motion sensors. The HT1 vials are in the cage. How long til security's here?" Parker asked.</p><p>"15 seconds." Hardison said.</p><p>"Plus or minus?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Plus or minus none. Get out of there now." Hardison said.</p><p>Sophie chatted up Hoffman, suggesting he mingle with the crowd below.</p><p>"Parker has tripped the alarm. We should clear before Hoffman starts putting the pieces together." Nate said.</p><p>Sophie excused herself.</p><p>Nate left the bar.</p><p>Hoffman left</p><p>Parker saw the security entered the cage. She was on the roof, jumped down, and locked them in the cage, and ran, sliding to knock down goon and left.</p><p>"Parker, Sophie, you clear?" Nate asked.</p><p>"HT1 vials are still in the cage. Security's on top of them." Parker said. She left the room.</p><p>"Get out Nate, now." Sophie ordered.</p><p>Nate was walking towards the exit.</p><p>Kaira saw the guy following Nate, holding the syringe. "Nate, behind you!" Kaira called out, quietly to alert Nate, but not blow her cover.</p><p>Nate grabbed the guy's arm and hit it against the cardboard that was up. Nate held the guy's hand against the cardboard as guys grabbed him, leaving the syringe in the cardboard.</p><p>The goons took Nate to Hoffman's office, where Nate was being held.</p><p>Kaira waited for Eliot and they were headed up to get Nate</p><p>"So glad you could join us." Hoffman said.</p><p>Nate adjusted his position in his seat. "What's going on?" Nate asked.</p><p>"The deal has changed." Hoffman said.</p><p>"Look, I don't - I - I - I would have thought a businessman like you would know how to keep a deal." Nate said.</p><p>"We had a deal, when you said you had the vials. But you were bluffing. Nice getting me to lead you to the storage facility. To bad the hack you hired to steal the cases got caught." Hoffman said.</p><p>"Mn, she didn't get caught." Nate said.</p><p>"She left empty-handed." Hoffman said. A guy came in with the case. "See, now I have the vials, and I have you." Hoffman said. The goon left, shutting the door behind him as Hoffman at his glass of champagne and the case on the table with himself. "I think we need a new deal." Hoffman turned to his goons. "Wait outside, don't let anyone in." Hoffman ordered his security. They left.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira rounded the corner, seeing the goons. "Hey, can I get you guys some coffee?" Eliot asked the security guards. Eliot and Kaira got to work taking the goons out.</p><p>"Uh, as far as I'm concerned, the old deal works. You give me the money, and no one finds out that Vioplex is identical to HT1, right? So, ok, all right, listen. I'll lower the price for you. 2 million dollars." Nate negotiated.</p><p>"Still negotiating, huh? Well, I got to admire your persistence." Hoffman said. He took a sip of champagne.</p><p>"Well, you know, the truth is going to come out once people start dying." Nate said.</p><p>"Well, sure. But by then, Vioplex will have made this company billions of dollars. And I'll have turned that success into a penthouse office and a Fortune 500. I think I'll try oil next." Hoffman said.</p><p>"Hm." Nate hummed, thinking.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were done with the goons. "Door's clear." Eliot reported. Eliot and Kaira dragged the bodies away to hide them.</p><p>"It's a great idea. It's a great plan. But there is one little snag." Nate said.</p><p>"What's that?" Hoffman asked, setting down his champagne.</p><p>"We stole the vials." Nate said.</p><p>"Then what's this?" Hoffman asked.</p><p>"That's an empty box. Yeah, we have the vi - well, we had the vials." Nate said.</p><p>"You had the vials? Where are they now?" Hoffman asked, taking a sip of his champagne.</p><p>"Well, now they're in the champagne that you're-" Nate said, mining the motion to drink.</p><p>Hoffman opened the case, revealing it was empty.</p><p>"Kaira remembered Parker switching the cases and Hardison activating the motion sensors and Parker setting them off.</p><p>Hoffman was silently freaking out.</p><p>"You know, I got to tell you, it was a pretty concentrated dose, so your liver will fail in the next few hours, mm, two days tops. You should be experiencing nausea, followed by this intense, profound fatigue, loss of appetite." Nate said.</p><p>"Now, stop it. I know you couldn't have drugged the champagne. I've been watching you since you got here." Hoffman said.</p><p>"Well, I'm not working alone. So-" Nate said.</p><p>Just then, the real Jennifer Pearson entered the office. "Excuse me, Mr. Hoffman?" Pearson said.</p><p>"Who are you? How did you even get in my office?" Hoffman asked.</p><p>"Jennifer Pearson, FDA rep. Your assistant said you were ready for me." Pearson said.</p><p>"My assistant?" Hoffman questioned.</p><p>After Eliot and Kaira had cleared the floor, Sophie approached Pearson, telling her she was Hoffman's assistant and that he was ready for her.</p><p>"No. I've met the FDA rep." Hoffman said.</p><p>Like I said, Mr. Hoffman, I'm not working alone." Nate said, walking behind the desk, showing Sophie on the security feed.</p><p>Hoffman stormed out.</p><p>Pearson walked over to Nate. "What's going on?" Pearson asked Nate.</p><p>"What's going - oh, uh, you - you want to stay with him, ok. He'll explain everything. But come here, first." Nate said. He locked the case and handed it to Pearson. "You're gonna want to take this. Run along." Nate said.</p><p>Jennifer left with the case.</p><p>Hoffman started knocking the glasses over, saying the champagne was poisoned. Then the screen started to display the molecular structure of HT1 and Vioplex, which Pearson didn't like. Then she opened the case after Hoffman said the vials weren't there, revealing the vials were indeed there.</p><p>Kaira remembered the trick case that Hardison used.</p><p>Sophie walked over to Nate and leaned against the railing. "50 high profile doctors, two dozen medical journalists, and an FDA rep." Sophie said, seeing the people there.</p><p>"Yeah, that should do it." Nate said.</p><p>"You do realize that that stunt you pulled, defines out of control?" Sophie questioned.</p><p>"Well, I - I just wanted you to see that I would never put any of you at risk if I wasn't willing to take the same chances myself." Nate said.</p><p>"I love how you think that's comforting." Sophie said.</p><p>Later that night, they met back up at the bar. Kaira sat by Parker and Sophie, drinking, watching Hardison and Ashley talk about what happens next for Ashley, giving her a check because the FDA rewards whistleblowers a percentage of the fine, which was a nice amount.</p><p>"I'm glad she finally got closure." Sophie said.</p><p>Parker was holding her bottle. "Who?" Parker asked, blank-faced.</p><p>"Ashley." Sophie said.</p><p>Parker broke the bottle, sending shards on the bar.</p><p>"You need to talk to him." Sophie said.</p><p>"Who?" Parker asked again.</p><p>"Hardison." Kaira said, causing Parker to break the damn bottle again.</p><p>"You don't like it when he talks to other women." Sophie pointed out the obvious.</p><p>"I don't care who he talks to." Parker said.</p><p>Sophie looked at Parker and held up a glass shard.</p><p>"Parker, you're feeling jealousy." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>Parker started laughing and snorted. "I'm not jealous, no. No, I'm not jealous. Nope. It's just that when I see them together, I don't like it." Parker said.</p><p>"That's jealousy, Parker." Kaira whispered to Parker. She picked up her beer and went upstairs to see Eliot.</p><p>Sophie was still at the bar with Parker. "You need to tell him how you feel." Sophie said.</p><p>Ashley got up and said goodbye to Hardison. Hardison walked over to the bar and saw the glass on the bar. "What happened here?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Uh, nothing. I had a cheap glass." Parker said.</p><p>Sophie exhaled, knowing she needed to give them space. "I'm tired. I'll see you later." Sophie said, leaving.</p><p>"Hardison went and stood beside Parker.</p><p>"So, Ashley. Nice girl." Parker said.</p><p>"Yeah. Ashley seems pretty cool." Hardison said.</p><p>"Strange teeth." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"I hadn't noticed." Hardison said.</p><p>"Really?" Parker asked.</p><p>"No." Hardison said.</p><p>"Oh." Parker breathed. Parker took a breath in. "So I have to tell you something." Parker said.</p><p>"Ok." Hardison said. He got closer to Parker and sat on the barstool. "Did - did you want to talk now?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Yeah, ok. So the thing is, I think that maybe I might be having feelings. Like weird, weird feelings for - pretzels." Parker said, close to telling the truth.</p><p>Hardison chuckled. "Pretzels." Hardison pointed to the bowl of pretzels. "Ok." Hardison brought the bowl over. "Well, they're right here when you want them." Hardison said, telling Parker he felt the same.</p><p>Parker looked at the pretzels and back at Hardison.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kaira and Eliot were laying in bed, winding down. "Eliot, what were you trying to tell Pearson before she interrupted you?" Kaira asked Eliot, laying on his shoulder.</p><p>"That I wasn't actually looking for anything serious because I am married." Eliot smiled at his wife.</p><p>Kaira chuckled. "Of course."</p><p>The couple went silent a moment. "Kaira, are you happy?" Eliot asked.</p><p>""Yeah. I am. I'm married to the most handsome, gentle, sweet, loyal, kind, dangerous man I know. While it may be unconventional, I love my job, and I love where we live. What's not to love?" Kaira smiled back at Eliot.</p><p>He pulled her into a kiss. "I love you, you know that right?" Eliot whispered to Kaira.</p><p>"I know, Cowboy." Kaira whispered back.</p><p>The couple kissed each other good night. While it may be unconventional, Kaira and Eliot didn't want any other life. Parker and Hardison were close to telling each other how they feel, and Nate is realizing he's lost control again. But if there's one thing each member of this unconventional family realized is that they were better together, and made a good team.</p><p>A/N Please let me know if there are any spelling or grammar errors I made so I can fix them, please. Thank you all for reading!</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! I'm so proud of the story I've created so far, and it's only gonna get better from here! So, thank you so much! Now, as for the featured Leverage edit:<br/>https://youtu.be/BxFg4bfOkzs</p><p>So I love this edit because this song really fits the teams dynamic. And it's just a really fun song to bop to. </p><p>I'm really enjoying this series! I'm gonna try really hard to crank out the chapters to get the Christmas chapter up before Christmas, but it's gonna be close. And the next episode is one of my favorite episodes, so it should be fun! Thank you for reading! Remember to give kudos and share this story! Much love to you all! Stay safe! </p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. The Studio Job (3x6)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team's latest client is Kaye Lynn Gold, a wanna be country singer whose brother was attacked. The target; her producer Mitchell Kirkwood, who isn't a good ol' boy. The game; get Kaye Lynn her music and royalties before her performance at a festival. With Eliot playing the fiddle in this con, things get complicated when Eliot becomes a genuine star. Can Eliot beat the Devil at his own game? Or will the Devil keep the golden fiddle?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! So, this is one of my favorite episodes of Leverage as I absolutely love Christian Kane's singing in this episode. And, if you haven't already, you should listen to his album Welcome to My House. And for the hell of it, you should watch him sing with Jensen Ackles during an episode of Supernatural Christian guest starred on called "Last Call" (I mean, they're the two hottest actors I know, who wouldn't want to hear them sing together!). This episode should be a fun one, so let's get to it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The team got called in for another job. This time, the client was Kaye Lynn Gold. A young blond whose brother was attacked by her producer after they talked to lawyers about getting the royalties they deserve.</p><p>At the bar, Kaira had a pot of coffee on the table and Kaye Lynn poured a cup, accidentally spilling it as she was still shaken up from the attack. "I'm sorry. I'm still a bit shook up." Kaye Lynn said, her Tennessee accent coming through shakey.</p><p>"That's all right." Eliot said, grabbing the napkin to clean it.</p><p>"Thank you." Kaye Lynn said.</p><p>"So, uh, your brother - now, will he ever play again?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Doctors say he'll be lucky to move his fingers again. Music was his life. What Kirkwood did was more than wrong. It was..." Kaye Lynn said, getting fired up again.</p><p>"It was cruel." Eliot said.</p><p>"He deserves to be shot." Kaira said, upset that someone would do that.</p><p>Kaye Lynn agreed with what the couple said, showing it by nodding her head.</p><p>"Now this guy Kirkwood - You said he has a reputation for doing these kinds of things. So why would you work for him?" Nate asked, wanting to get the full story.</p><p>"Well, he owns a record label, Mr. Ford." Kaye Lynn said.</p><p>"So?" Nate questioned, not understanding how it was relevant.</p><p>"Put it like this. The day I was born, my mama said I looked at her, smiled, and asked, "Which way to music city?"" Kaye Lynn said, smiling at the memory.</p><p>"He was your shot to making it big." Kaira said, simplifying what she said for Nate.</p><p>"Right. He hired us to write songs for other artists - his more established artists. It was good money, plus royalties. And we thought we'd hit the jackpot. But when it came time to pay -" Kaye Lynn explained.</p><p>"He showed you the fine print." Nate said.</p><p>"Exactly. He charged us rent to park in his lot. He charges us for the pens we used. He - he owns our publishing." Kaye Lynn explained.</p><p>"So the only difference between Kirkwood and the majors is that the majors use lawyers to do their dirty work." Nate realized.</p><p>"And our songs were good. And they did well. And before you knew it, he owed us hundreds of thousands in royalties." Kaye Lynn explained, still upset some.</p><p>"You ever confront him?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Instead of paying us, he offered to record our own album in his studio - no charge. And he said he was gonna get us a spot on "Saddles and Spurs"." Kaye Lynn said.</p><p>"What is that?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"A big music festival in Memphis." Kaye Lynn answered.</p><p>"All right. So, what happened?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"When he heard the album, he decided it was too good to waste on a couple of unknowns. So he stole it! The Devil may have gone down to Georgia, Mr. Ford, but he lives in Memphis." Kaye Lynn explained.</p><p>After they got all the information, they said goodbye and filled in the rest of the team on their client and Hardison got the briefing ready, standing at the screen.</p><p>"Mitchell Kirkwood. Record producer and CEO of Kirkwood Records. Now, here's a fun fact. He started off his career as an artist. Does anyone remember this?" Hardison asked. Hardison played a clip from a song no one recognized and was kind of bad quality of both video and song.</p><p>"I say we take him down for that alone." Sophie said.</p><p>"I agree." Kaira said, not wanting to hear anymore.</p><p>"Critics agreed. It's probably why he never released another single. He took all the money he made and funneled it into his record company. And judging by the number of lawsuits filed and dropped within days, I'd say it's not his first time forcing somebody to settle out of court." Hardison said.</p><p>"Does he have a criminal record?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"None. He carved out a nice little kingdom in the country-music world." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Yeah. Well, he stole Kaye Lynn's music. He stole her money, he took over their publishing." Eliot said.</p><p>"Yeah, but we're gonna get it back." Nate said, laying out the game.</p><p>"I understand how to steal money, but how do you steal music?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Yeah. I mean, to get Kaye Lynn's royalties back, that's easy, we just con Kirkwood into giving us money. But how do we get Kaye Lynn's music back?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Oh, it's called a digital master. It's high-quality, multichannel, studio-recorded, mixed, and engineered. Price to produce - hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions." Hardison explained. He pulled up the designs for a building on the screen. "Now, this building right here - This is Kirkwood Records, Memphis, Tennessee. Now, inside this building is a hidden safe that contains these digital masters, one of which has Kaye Lynn's music on it." Hardison explained.</p><p>"So it's a smash and grab." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"Well, no, no. Not exactly. No. Cause we have to make sure she gets back the money." Nate pointed out.</p><p>"And a little extra for hospital bills." Sophie added.</p><p>"Making sure that he can't come after them- well, that wouldn't hurt." Nate said. Nate and Sophie had the same idea. "A fiddle game." They said at the same time. They looked at each other.</p><p>Parker raised her hand, hitting Hardison's forehead. "Uh, Parker." Nate said.</p><p>"I don't know how to play the fiddle." Parker said.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira glared at Parker, who was missing the memo.</p><p>"Well, actually, we're not gonna play a fiddle. No. We're gonna sell one. For a hell of a lot more than it's worth." Nate said.</p><p>The team traveled to Memphis and got ready to pull off the con. Hardison hacked the Saddlebags Saloon, which was Kirkwoods regular, and made it seem he wasn't going to show up. Sophie was playing a British music executive, finding talent. Nate was going to be a rival music producer, Parker was going to work the floor, Hardison was on electronics in the sound booth. Eliot was their fiddle, and Kaira stayed off to the side, helping Eliot get ready. Nate, Hardison, and Kaira were sitting at the bar, and Sophie was at Kirkwood's table. The trio saw Kirkwood talk to the perky hostess, and it was obvious she was scared.</p><p>"Kirkwoods on his way over." Hardison reported.</p><p>Kirkwood started walking over to the bar as Hardison and Kaira left. Kaira was walking to meet Eliot outside and Hardison to the sound booth. Kirkwood got a drink, sitting by Nate.</p><p>"Why don't you put that on my tab there?" Nate said, using a southern accent. "You're uh, Mitch Kirkwood, aren't you?" Nate asked Kirkwood.</p><p>"Yes." Kirkwood said, taking a long sip of his drink.</p><p>Hardison was making it up to the sound booth. "Parker, I'm on my way to the sound booth." Hardison said.</p><p>Parker readied herself, cracking her neck.</p><p>Hardison quickly made it up to the sound booth. Hardison sat down and opened up the laptop and looked up the music. "Let's see what our friend likes to listen to." Hardison looked at the most played music. "Most played - Brooks and Dunn." Hardison said. He grabbed a clipboard, which showed the concert line up for Saddles and Spurs. "I need tickets for Brooks and Dunn. You got that, Parker?" Hardison said, cueing up Parker.</p><p>Parker spun around the dancefloor like a ballerina, lifting what she could to get the tickets.</p><p>Just then, the sound guy came in. "Uh, you're not supposed to be in here." He said.</p><p>"Tell me about it, buddy. Why are you here?" Hardison said, putting on a southern accent as well.</p><p>"I work here." The guy said.</p><p>"Flippin' fantastical. They call me on my night off and go on and double book it." Hardison said, trying to get the guy to leave.</p><p>"Better call the main office, find out what's going on here." The sound guy said, grabbing the phone.</p><p>"Please do, skipper. Cause if I got to work tonight, then I need to find somebody to take these Brooks and Dunn tickets off my hands." Hardison said.</p><p>The sound guy put down the receiver. "You know what? I am starting to remember something about having the night off." The sound guy said, wanting the tickets.</p><p>"Don't you think you should go on and double-check that, butter britches." Hardison asked, getting the guy to leave.</p><p>"Naw. I definitely remember now." The sound guy said.</p><p>"Really? All right, now. Think you can find somebody to take this ticket off my hand?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"I think I can find somebody." The sound guy said.</p><p>"Hot diggity dadgum. Let me..." Hardison started feeling around his pockets, acting like he was trying to remember where he put the ticket.</p><p>Parker went up to the balcony overlooking the floor where the sound booth was and stuck the ticket underneath the door.</p><p>Hardison gave it to the sound guy and he left, leaving Hardison in the sound booth.</p><p>Meanwhile, Nate and Kirkwood were still talking. "I'm not gonna lie to you. Being rich? That'll get you the chicks." Kirkwood said, snapping his fingers. A bartender came over and refilled his glass. "But you add to that... being famous?" Kirkwood started laughing. "I tell you..." Kirkwood grabbed the wrist of a waitress. "I have the opportunity to turn down girls prettier than this damn near every day." Kirkwood said. The girl pulled her hand away in disgust and walked away.</p><p>"Why, T-T-That's really - that's really somethin'. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Now, why - why would you just, uh, stop at one song?" Nate said.</p><p>"Oh. Same reason you manage musicians. Why be the cow when you can be the farmer?" Kirkwood said. "Oh. Well... Tell me about this kid you got." Kirkwood said.</p><p>"Yeah. Well, his name is, uh, Kenneth Crane. Right?" Nate started selling Kirkwood the fiddle.</p><p>"Yeah." Kirkwood said, wanting to know more.</p><p>"Now, a couple of years ago, uh, we took his best song, we put it on a demo tape, and we sent it out everywhere. Well, two days ago, this, uh, European lady, she offered 25,000 dollars for the rights to that song." Nate said, setting Kirkwood up.</p><p>"25,000 dollars?" Kirkwood questioned, knowing it was a large amount.</p><p>"Yeah." Nate said.</p><p>Kirkwood started chuckling. "Well, what did you say to that?" Kirkwood asked, amused.</p><p>"Well, that's the thing. I-I didn't know what to say to her, you know? She's sitting right over there, waiting on an answer." Nate said, pointing to where Sophie was sitting.</p><p>Kirkwood stood up and saw it was the woman who was sitting in his seat. "Interesting." Kirkwood said.</p><p>"Yeah. Yeah. Do you know - do you know her?" Nate asked.</p><p>"No. No. Not..." Kirkwood sat back down. "Not really, but I tell you what I will do. I will go over there - for you... talk to her, see if I can't get her to show her hand." Kirkwood offered.</p><p>"That - That's amazing. You would do that?" Nate asked, liking the idea.</p><p>"Hell, yes, I would do that." Kirkwood said, slamming his glass down with a thump, a bit drunk. "Local boys gotta stick together." Kirkwood said. He got up and started walking over to Sophie.</p><p>Parker approached Nate at the bar. "Let the fiddle games begin?" Nate questioned, signaling the start of the con.</p><p>"Yeah. Um, I'm still a little unclear. Where exactly is this fiddle?" Parker asked. "It just walked through the door." Nate said, looking at Eliot and Kaira walking in.</p><p>Eliot looked at Nate, not really happy that he was the fiddle.</p><p>Kaira chuckled. "Hey, I'll be beside you." Kaira comforted Eliot.</p><p>Eliot walked with Kaira to the balcony overlooking the floor and looked out, with Eliot holding Kaira's hand.</p><p>Parker shot up. "What are you looking at?" Parker asked, startling Eliot.</p><p>"Don't!" Eliot warned quietly.</p><p>"What's wrong?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Nothing's wrong." Eliot growled.</p><p>"Something's wrong." Parker said.</p><p>"I'm fine." Eliot insisted.</p><p>"I started you." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"You're a cat burger. That's what you do." Eliot dismissed it.</p><p>"Yeah, I've been a cat burglar since I was 10 years old." Parker said.</p><p>"Don't - really?" Eliot said.</p><p>"Well, maybe 9, but this is the first time I've startled you." Parker said.</p><p>"He's nervous, Parker." Sophie pointed out, amused, acting like she was typing on a laptop.</p><p>"I'm not nervous." Eliot said.</p><p>"I thought you said you could sing." Parker said.</p><p>"I can sing. I just - I didn't... realize there was gonna be this many people." Eliot said.</p><p>Parker gasped. "You are nervous." Parker pointed out.</p><p>Eliot scoffed, about to leave.</p><p>"Eliot's only ever sung for me. Cut him some slack, guys." Kaira said. She and Eliot silently facepalmed themselves, realizing they had opened up a target.</p><p>"Really?" Parker questioned the jack of trades.</p><p>"Ok, he may have recorded a song for me before our one year anniversary and he played the song before he proposed." Kaira said, liking the memory, but not what was about to happen.</p><p>"Aw. How romantic." Sophie teased.</p><p>Eliot scoffed, stepping back. Kaira went to comfort him.</p><p>"Relax, man. I told you - I got you. Say something." Hardison said, having set up his software.</p><p>"I don't speak on command, Hardison." Eliot said.</p><p>"Perfect." Hardison said. He typed on his laptop. "Now, I rigged my laptop to record your comm. Now, this means that I can alter your pitch from anywhere to make you sound like Darth Eliot..." Hardison explained. He punched a key in and replayed what Eliot said to sound like Darth Vader.</p><p>Eliot smiled a tad.</p><p>"To Spencer Smurf." Hardison said. He replayed the audio clip again, this time with a higher pitch.</p><p>"Hardison?" Eliot growled as Kaira and Parker chuckled.</p><p>"Don't ever do the smurf thing again?" Hardison guessed.</p><p>"Right." Eliot growled.</p><p>"So, the software takes the frequency of your voice, and it matches it to the key of the song, then uses a Fourier transform to correct the pitch and sends the tuned audio out through the bar's speakers." Hardison explained.</p><p>"What does that mean?" Parker asked.</p><p>"That means that, for tonight, Eliot has perfect pitch. You ever wonder how Britney Spears sounds so good on her tracks? Well, this is it - except mine's in real time, baby." Hardison said.</p><p>"Uh, who, exactly, did you refer to as baby?" Nate asked, still at the bar.</p><p>"It's like the universal term of baby. How old are you?" Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira chuckled.</p><p>Kirkwood flirted with Sophie at the table. Sophie introduced herself as Virginia Wellington and Kirkwood took Sophie on a tour as one of his goons explored Sophie's stuff. He dialed a number, and Nate answered it with a British accent. Nate watched as the goon left Sophie's stuff at the table and left.</p><p>In a quiet room, Eliot was strumming a guitar as Kaye Lynn was offering advice and Kaira was moral support. Eliot messed up a chord. Eliot growled as Kaye Lynn paced. He resumed playing.</p><p>Eliot stopped once he saw Kaye Lynn pacing. "What, are you nervous?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"That song you're going out there to sing? That's the only thing my brother and I have left that Kirkwood hasn't stolen or destroyed, and if I lose it..." Kaye Lynn said, nervous.</p><p>"You're not gonna lose it. All right?" Eliot promised.</p><p>"We'll get your money back, and your music back. We both promise you that. And we're people of our word." Kaira made, looking at Eliot for confirmation.</p><p>Eliot nodded to show he agreed.</p><p>"How can you be so sure?" Kaye Lynn asked, sitting down.</p><p>"Cause this is what we do." Eliot said. Eliot started strumming again, struggling with the bridge. (Side Note, I'm sorry this isn't more accurate, I am not a good guitar player, so I don't know the technical words)</p><p>"You still having trouble with that bridge?" Kaye Lynn asked.</p><p>"No. I-I think..." Eliot said, stuttering a bit.</p><p>"Let me - let me show you." Kaye Lynn said. Kaye Lynn moved Eliot's fingers into the proper placement so he could strum the guitar better.</p><p>"How do you feel when you play?" Kaye Lynn asked Eliot, noticing part of his problem.</p><p>"I'm - I think... I think I got it." Eliot said, confident in himself.</p><p>"See, that - that's your problem. You're thinking... about how to play the song. And I'm asking you, "How do you feel when you play? You ever been in love?" Kaye Lynn asked.</p><p>Kaira chuckled, knowing the answer already.</p><p>"A couple of times." Eliot said, looking at Kaira.</p><p>"How'd it end the first time?" Kaye Lynn asked.</p><p>"I made her a promise that if she ever needed me that I'd be there for her." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira knew who he was talking about.</p><p>"What's wrong with that?" Kaye Lynn asked.</p><p>"Because I made the same promise to the United States government. And I found out... you can't make that promise to more than one person." Eliot said, soft.</p><p>"The other time?" Kaye Lynn asked.</p><p>"I made the same promise to another girl, and she made the same promise to me. I married her, and I can't imagine not being near her." Eliot said, smiling at Kaira.</p><p>"That feeling? Hold on to that, and you'll do just fine." Kaye Lynn said.</p><p>Eliot practiced some more to get the full song rehearsed.</p><p>Sophie and Kirkwood were sitting at a table, Kirkwood ordering ribs. Sophie chatted him up a bit as Kirkwood's goon informed Kirkwood of who "Virginia" was. Nate was still at the bar.</p><p>"Okay, Hardison. How are we doing?" Nate asked.</p><p>Hardison and Parker were in the sound booth, finishing up the equipment. "Ready when Eliot is." Hardison said.</p><p>Kirkwood asked Sophie about her deal with K-Gent, asking her why she was here to pick up "Kenneth Crane". Sophie told she wasn't really sure why K-Gent was making the deal, just that it was a lot of money.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were in the wing of the stage. Eliot was holding the guitar.</p><p>"You got this, babe." Kaira whispered to Eliot.</p><p>"Thanks." Eliot smiled at Kaira.</p><p>She placed a quick kiss on his lips and left to watch him from the crowd. Eliot was walking onto the stage as Kaira made her way to the front. Feedback squealed as Eliot approached the mic.</p><p>"Hi. I'm Kenneth Crane. And, uh, I'm going to sing a song - I'm gonna sing - sing a song I wrote about... the road not traveled. And missing that person you love." Eliot said, spying Kaira in the front of the crowd as he got ready to sing.</p><p>(Play video along with what I wrote)</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s199JqJusGI</p><p>Eliot started strumming. He started singing, and Kaira just smiled. She didn't even hear Hardison freaking out about the system not working. The team soon listened in and were in awe of Eliot singing. During the last verse of the song, Eliot looked at Kaira. She smiled as Eliot poured his heart into the performance. Eliot finished the last of the song and the crowd cheered. Kaira ran up to meet Eliot in the back room.</p><p>Kaye Lynn was there as Eliot took a breath, sighing in relief. Eliot put the guitar down. "How'd I... how'd I do?" Eliot asked the girls.</p><p>"Awesome, babe!" Kaira compliments, hugging Eliot as she chuckled.</p><p>"That was awesome!" Kaye Lynn said, excited. Kaye Lynn left to give the couple some room.</p><p>Kaira hugged Eliot again, laughing from excitement. There was something in their eyes. Something that drew the couple closer. Eliot and Kaira both took out their comms and started making out, liking the privacy.</p><p>Meanwhile, Nate was still at the bar when a goon went up to him. "Mr. Kirkwood wants to see you." The goon said.</p><p>"He knows where I am." Nate said, ignoring the goon.</p><p>Two more goons showed up. "Or, uh, you know... I could go to him." Nate said, leaving. "Eliot. Kaira." Nate tried to get their attention. "Eliot, Kaira, how soon can you get here?" Nate asked. No response. "Eliot? Kaira?" Nate repeated. "Eliot! Kiddo!" Nate exclaimed. No response.</p><p>Hardison and Parker were clearing out the sound booth. "On our way, Nate." Parker said. Just as Hardison and Parker were leaving, the sound guy came in.</p><p>"You! You lied to me. This is for tomorrow night." The sound guy said.</p><p>Kirkwood and Sophie were talking. "You offered what? 25,000? I happen to know that you would pay half a million dollars for that song." Kirkwood told Sophie.</p><p>"Fortunately for me, he doesn't know that." Sophie said.</p><p>"Fortunately for you, his manager and I happen to go way back. We did 4H together. It's a cowboy thing. Why don't you let me see if I can't nudge the deal along for you?" Kirkwood offered.</p><p>"And what would you want exactly?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Oh, I'll think of something." Kirkwood said.</p><p>Nate was in a predicament. He was sat in a chair, two goons in front of him. "You two work out together?" Nate asked.</p><p>Just then another goon came in.</p><p>"Oh. Hey. I'm just gonna leave my card and get going here." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were smiling at each other, going to put their comms back in. That's when they heard the thudding. Their smiles immediately turned to worried expressions. "Nate!" Kaira yelled, putting on her denim jacket.</p><p>"Yeah." Nate said.</p><p>"Nate!" Eliot yelled as the couple ran out the door. "Nate, we're on our way!" Eliot said.</p><p>Just as Eliot and Kaira went to the door, there was a shadow. Kaira opened the door, and a young blond woman came in.</p><p>"Who are you?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Forever 21. I just want your autograph." The woman said, surprised at how threatening Eliot was.</p><p>Eliot took the pen and paper and signed it.</p><p>"Who's she?" The young girl asked.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira chuckled at each other. "You could say I'm his first fan." Kaira smiled, playing the innocent girlfriend card, hiding her ring, or so she thought.</p><p>"Wait, you're his wife?" The young girl asked, a little surprised.</p><p>"Yeah." Eliot said, wondering why the girl was so interested in him.</p><p>"You're actually cute together. Oh, I gotta post about this." The young girl said. She left soon after.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira left after to go get Nate. They found him with a stack of cash and the goons down.</p><p>They left and went to the hotel they were staying at. Nate handed Kaye Lynn the cash.</p><p>"And that is how you run a fiddle game." Nate said.</p><p>"I don't even know how to begin to thank you." Kaye Lynn said, happy she got some of her money back.</p><p>"And that's just 10 percent of it. Now, tomorrow, he's taking Eliot into the studio, and we'll get you the other 90." Nate said.</p><p>"And while Eliot's in the studio, Parker will get into the safe and grab the masters." Sophie said.</p><p>"Oh! Eliot's the fiddle!" Parker just then realized, laughing from the bathroom.</p><p>Kaira chuckled at Parker's craziness.</p><p>"What's she doing back there?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"She's trying on her costume." Sophie explained.</p><p>"We sold Eliot to Kirkwood. I totally get this." Parker called out. Kaye Lynn left and the team rested for the night.</p><p>The next day, Parker and Hardison were in the waiting room, of the studio, waiting to meet with Eliot and Kaira, who after their interaction with the fan last night, became the high school sweetheart wife of Kenneth Crane, Lilly Crane. Hardison and Parker got a bit too into their covers as they sent the receptionist away, Parker enjoying the duck costume she was wearing.</p><p>"Hey, yo, Eliot, Kaira, you got an ETA?" Hardison asked.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were walking on the sidewalk to the studio, closeby. "Yeah. I'm almost there. But I think someone's following me." Eliot said, holding his guitar. The couple picked up the face.</p><p>"Do some Eliot-fu and Kaira-fu on 'em. What happened to... "This is what I do?"" Hardison mocked Eliot, sitting down.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira looked behind and saw many screaming fangirls, or "Craniacs" as Kaira has discovered they were calling themselves, chasing after the couple. "Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work this time." Eliot said, picking up the pace with Kaira right beside him.</p><p>"I been meaning to tell you, this, uh, Kenneth Crane? He is blowing up on Twitter. He's got a fan page and everything. It's a pretty good picture too. And they are loving the high school sweetheart love story I created for Kaira's alias." Hardison said, slightly amused.</p><p>"That's the problem. I can't have my picture out there like that." Eliot growled as the couple tried to avoid the girls.</p><p>"Well, contrary to what y'all may believe, I do not control everything that happens on the internet." Hardison said.</p><p>"There's a price on both of our heads in three different countries, and I'm fairly certain a FATWA was issued." Eliot said, not happy with the publicity, running with Kaira beside him.</p><p>"Hardison, can't you please just fake a crash and take the website down so I don't have to stay up to make sure no one kills my husband?" Kaira growled, not happy with the attention.</p><p>"You are so vain, man. Boom. There. Fan site - no. But you know what? When you get back, we're gonna have a serious conversation about the difference between caution and paranoia." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were still running. "When you've done the things I've done, there's no such thing as paranoia." Eliot growled.</p><p>"And when you're married to him and have been his partner for six years, you learn there is no such thing as too much caution." Kaira retorted, still running with Eliot, silently cursing Hardison.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were getting closer to the studio, ditching the screaming fangirls.</p><p>Nate and Sophie were at a restaurant, where Nate got ribs for breakfast.</p><p>"Seriously? For breakfast?" Sophie asked, disgusted a bit.</p><p>"Mm. Oh, yeah." Nate said, enjoying the ribs.</p><p>Sophie then caught sight of Kirkwood. She slapped Nate.</p><p>"Oh! Geez. What, did Kirkwood just walk in or something?" Nate asked as Sophie stood up.</p><p>"How'd he find us?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Well, there's probably not a lot of five-star hotels in Memphis. Now, you should probably just, you know, act the part, ride this out, be in character, and... you should probably storm off about now." Nate said, knowing Kirkwood was close behind.</p><p>"I thought I'd give it another beat." Sophie said. She stood a moment, then grabbed her purse and left. "Perfect. The other man in Memphis I'd like to slap." Sophie told Kirkwood.</p><p>Kirkwood chuckled. "Just relax now, little filly." Kirkwood said, not caring.</p><p>"I am perfectly aware that you went behind my back to get the rights to that song. So let's just cut to the chase, huh? What do you want?" Sophie asked Kirkwood.</p><p>Back at the studio, the woman escorted Hardison and Parker to the studio, where Kaira was waiting outside as Eliot was in the recording booth. Hardison was dressed like a rapper, wearing a white tank top and bad looking pants and gold jewelry everywhere. Parker was in her duck costume. Parker got the receptionist to help her find a meditation room, which is reality was Parker's way of trying to get to the safe.</p><p>"Parker's on the loose, but there are a lot of unfriendlies." Hardison whispered, at the soundboard.</p><p>"Yeah, which is exactly why we have cover stories. How's Eliot?" Nate said.</p><p>"Eliot's about to record. He took his comm out." Kaira whispered.</p><p>"You ready, man?" Hardison asked in to the mic.</p><p>"Whew. Yeah." Eliot said, nervous.</p><p>"All right." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira walked up to the soundboard, giving a smile and a thumbs up to Eliot, comforting him. Hardison messed with the board.</p><p>"When a new moon shines through your window or you hear a sad song on the radio." Eliot sang when Hardison interrupted.</p><p>"Hold up, man. It's - it's a little pitchy. It's... just a skosh. A little pitchy." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot looked offended but kept his cool. Eliot started again. "When a new moon shines-" Eliot started singing again when Hardison interrupted him.</p><p>"It's pitchy. In that very same spot, right? It's - yeah, it's a little pitchy." Hardison said, knowing he was about to get yelled at.</p><p>Kaira groaned, knowing what was happening next.</p><p>Eliot started again, but both Spencers were close to snapping. "And when a new -" Eliot tried again, but Hardison interrupted him.</p><p>"Hold up, man." Hardison said.</p><p>"Hang on, man. Let me get into the song." Eliot said.</p><p>"Did you practice the wobbles?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Damn it, Hardison." Eliot said, signaling to Kaira he was upset.</p><p>"Just put a - smooth it out. Like, you - "When a new moon shines through your..." Hardison said, sounding a bit smoother than Eliot.</p><p>Eliot started singing, again. "When a new moon shines through your window." Eliot started singing as Kaira heard Parker finally get into the right room.</p><p>"How's it going, Parker?" Nate asked, finished up at the restaurant.</p><p>"I don't think I'm being weird enough." Parker said.</p><p>Nate laughed. "Somehow I doubt that." Nate said, having heard what Parker was doing.</p><p>The receptionist came back and gave Parker water, which she spit out and asked for champagne. Parker went into the room.</p><p>"And when a new moon shines through your window or you hear a sad song on the radio." Eliot started singing, getting into it as Hardison was swaying as Kaira was silently swooning over Eliot's voice. "And you don't know why but you just start to..." Elliot started singing when Hardison interrupted.</p><p>"No. Ma-" Hardison was about to say when Eliot went off.</p><p>"Listen to me, man. Say pitchy one more time. Say pitchy one more time and see what happens. I don't even think that word means what think it means." Eliot said, getting annoyed.</p><p>"It means pitchy." Hardison said.</p><p>"Define it." Eliot said.</p><p>"You define it." Hardison argued.</p><p>"I don't have to define it! I'm not saying it every five seconds!" Eliot started yelling.</p><p>Hardison turned the mic off, meaning he couldn't hear Eliot.</p><p>"I'm - I'm sorry. Well, I can't- I lo - I lost you. I can't hear you." Hardison was saying as Eliot was going off in the booth.</p><p>"Hardison, I'm not gonna save your ass when Eliot gets out of the booth." Kaira whispered, getting annoyed with Hardison and Eliot.</p><p>"Maybe the safe is somewhere off-site. I've looked everywhere." Parker said in a server room. She then heard the sound of guitar playing. Parker stepped over a section of the floor, which sounded hollow. "Isn't the recording studio supposed to be soundproof?" Parker asked.</p><p>Nate was still at the hotel. "Uh, yeah. Completely." Nate said.</p><p>Parker still heard playing. Parker got down on the floor and opened up the hatch, revealing many masters in the safe.</p><p>Sophie and Kirkwood were at a restaurant. "I don't understand. You just paid 100,000 dollars for the rights to that song, and you're just gonna give them to me for free." Sophie said.</p><p>"That's just about the lay of the land." Kirkwood said.</p><p>"You must want something." Sophie said.</p><p>"I would like you to forget that you ever heard the name Kenneth Crane." Kirkwood said.</p><p>"Well, why would I do that?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"I'm thinking about getting back into the spotlight, and I don't think there's anything that would, uh, jumpstart a career any more than having a song of your sampled by a major rap superstar, hmm?" Kirkwood revealed.</p><p>"You're gonna steal Crane's song for yourself? How are you gonna get him to go along with that?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Well, I wasn't exactly gonna give him a choice in the matter. Uh... you know, I guess there is one more thing that you can do for me. Stop asking questions." Kirkwood left the threat, leaving to answer his phone.</p><p>"Okay, Nate. We have a little problem." Sophie reported.</p><p>"Y-yeah. What kind of problem?" Nate asked over comms.</p><p>"The guy who's buying our fiddle? He thinks he is the fiddle." Sophie said, leaving.</p><p>Parker came back with masters. Hardison and Kaira were watching Eliot in the studio.</p><p>"You're not done yet?" Parker asked.</p><p>"He's doing one for him." Hardison said.</p><p>"Well, I found it." Parker said, dumping the masters on the table. "Um... let's see." Parker said, sorting through it.</p><p>"Got it." Hardison said. He put the master in the player.</p><p>"Hey. Look. This is that song Kirkwood did." Parker said, holding a master.</p><p>"This is the original master. Why is the artist's name blacked out?" Hardison asked.</p><p>A goon walked into the recording studio, threatening Eliot, holding out a gun. Eliot used the mic stand to send the goon into the drum set.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker, Hardison, and Kaira were listening to the master that was blacked out. "Okay, so this is the original recording of the song that made Kirkwood famous." Harrison said.</p><p>They listened to it, not noticing Eliot was in a fight.</p><p>"And this is the recording he released to the video." Harrison said. He overlaid the track underneath and played it. The wavelengths showed it was the same track, but it sounded different.</p><p>"It's not the same." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"Which one is Kirkwood?" Nate asked.</p><p>"That's just it. Neither. It's the same song, just with a pitch adjustment." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Who's singing the song?" Kaira asked.</p><p>Hardison started typing on his laptop. "I am matching a voiceprint right now." Hardison said.</p><p>Parker and Kaira turned around. "Where's Eliot?" Parker asked. They turned back around as Eliot fought the goon with a drumstick, twirling it.</p><p>"Got it. Boom. Jesse Jenkins." Hardison reported.</p><p>"All right. That's - That's why Kirkwood never recorded a second song. He didn't record the first one." Nate realized.</p><p>"Kirkwood paid him off?" Sophie asked.</p><p>Hardison looked up Jesse Jenkins. "I don't think so. Jenkins sued him. Copyright infringement, harassment, fraud - the whole nine - but those charges weren't formally dropped." Hardison said.</p><p>"They went to court?" Sophie questioned.</p><p>"Not exactly. Any other guesses?" Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot finally took out the goon.</p><p>"Jenkins was killed. Circumstances were suspicious. Kirkwood was implicated but never charged." Nate said.</p><p>"Yeah. Dead on. How did you know that?" Hardison asked, impressed.</p><p>"Because he is about to do the exact thing to Eliot." Nate said, causing Kaira to burst to look at the booth.</p><p>"Shit!" Kaira yelled, realizing she should have been watching closer.</p><p>Eliot was not happy, banging on the glass as the other two turned around. Eliot exited the studio and was greeted by Kaira. "Let's go! Now!" Eliot yelled, opening the door.</p><p>"I'm so sorry! I should've been watching!" Kaira said as they left the studio.</p><p>Eliot didn't talk about it until they met Nate and Sophie back at the hotel.</p><p>"All right. Good." Nate said as Parker dumped the masters on the coffee table in front of Nate. "Ah, I do love it when a plan comes together. Okay." Nate said. He was looking through the masters and found Kaye Lynn's master. It was empty. "Yeah, but... W-where's the tape?" Nate asked.</p><p>Everyone looked at Hardison. "I think I may have left her tape in the deck." Hardison said.</p><p>"Unbelievable!" Eliot growled.</p><p>"Son of a bitch! Damn it, Hardison!" Kaira exclaimed, getting her coat on along with Eliot.</p><p>"Where are you going?" Nate asked.</p><p>"When they find Kaye Lynn's tape, they're gonna want to ask her some questions." Eliot said.</p><p>"And as we just found out, they don't ask very nicely. So I am going to back up Eliot. Got a problem? Tough." Kaira said, pissed as she and Eliot stormed out.</p><p>They got out and got in the car and quickly arrived at Kaye Lynn's place. She was sitting on the coffee table, obvious something had happened.</p><p>"You okay?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"The festival director just called. Kirkwood took my spot in the showcase. He's gonna sing my brother's song. And you told me you were gonna get our money and our songs back." Kaye Lynn said, her voice breaking. She stood up. "But all you did was lose the one thing I had left." Kaye Lynn said, upset, walking by the couple.</p><p>They followed her outside. Eliot and Kaira met Kaye Lynn on the steps.</p><p>"Come with us. All right? Trust us." Eliot told Kaye Lynn.</p><p>"What's the plan?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"All right. Come back to the hotel. Well, uh, rework the approach. Hit him hard in a couple of days." Nate said, pacing behind the team on the couch.</p><p>"No, Kirkwood's getting ready to sing this song in front of the who's who of country music." Eliot said, stopping before they got to the car.</p><p>"Listen, uh, you know, it's too late to stop him tonight." Nate said.</p><p>"No, I hacked into his truck's navigation system. He's on the move. It's game over." Hardison said.</p><p>"Eliot, if he plays that song in front of those A&amp;Rs, I'll lose it forever." Kaye Lynn said.</p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, it's too late." Hardison said.</p><p>"No! Get the car, both of you. We're going to stop Kirkwood and get that tape. Get in!" Kaira ordered as she got in the driver's seat. She raced off.</p><p>"Sometimes you - you - you don't get a second chance to get it right." Sophie said.</p><p>"Why not?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Rules of life." Sophie said.</p><p>"But that's exactly what we do. We change the rules." Nate said, realizing he had a plan.</p><p>The group at the hotel were leaving when they ran into a bunch of Eliot's fangirls. "Uh, uh, W-where's Kirkwood right about now?" Nate asked.</p><p>Hardison managed to tip off the fangirls to stall Kirkwood as Kaira was doing her best driving, dodging cars to get to the saloon. "Eliot, I used your fans to stall Kirkwood. I bought you like two minutes." Hardison reported.</p><p>Kaira dodged around, getting closer to the saloon.</p><p>"We're here." Sophie said, the group walking into the saloon.</p><p>"Is Kirkwood there?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"I don't see him. Wait." Sophie said, spying Kirkwood in the back. "Yeah. He just walked in." Sophie reported.</p><p>"Stall! Just a few more minutes." Kaira yelled, getting closer.</p><p>"Kaira, Eliot, I'm sorry. We did everything we can." Sophie said, feeling bad.</p><p>"Maybe not everything." Parker said, getting an idea. Parker got up on the saloon stage and started doing duck noises, stalling for the few minutes Kaira needed to arrive.</p><p>She pulled up and the trio all but shot out the car. Kaye Lynn took off her jacket and walked away as Kaira and Eliot went another way. Eliot and Kaira managed to confront Kirkwood before he went on stage.</p><p>"Hey." Eliot said. "Surprised to see me?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Why would you say that?" Kirkwood asked.</p><p>"Because you tried to kill my husband." Kaira said, her nostrils flared to show she was pissed.</p><p>"Same way you killed Jesse Jenkins." Eliot said.</p><p>"You're unstable, Kenneth. And I'd really like to help you... if you'd let me." Kirkwood said. He punched Eliot in the stomach and moved a microphone as Eliot groaned. "You think I'm gonna confess to a murder in a roomful of microphones?" Kirkwood asked. "If I was that stupid, I never would have gotten away with it." Kirkwood said.</p><p>The crowd was booing at Parker as she got escorted offstage. Kirkwood came on stage and started playing the song. "Well, I know they say all good things must come to some kind of ending. We were so damn good I guess we never stood a chance. Go on and find what you've been missin'. And when that highway's tired of listenin'. You'll see I'm not that easy to forget." Kirkwood sang, definitely not as well as Eliot.</p><p>"And when a new moon shines through your window. Or you hear a sad song on the radio. And you don't know why, but you just start to cry. Or you're driving round on a sunny day." Kaye Lynn started singing acapella as Hardison played the guitar track, everyone silent and amazed. "And out of nowhere comes the pouring rain. And a memory hits you out of the blue. That's just me. Thinking of you." Kaye Lynn finished singing.</p><p>The crowd cheered and applauded loudly, giving a standing ovation. Kirkwood tried to play it off. Just then, Eliot's voice came over the speakers. It was the conversation that Eliot and Kirkwood had before he went on stage. He said his confession right into Eliot's earbud, allowing for Hardison to use the software he used to auto-tune Eliot's voice to project it over the bar's speakers. Kirkwood played it off and left the stage.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira caught Kirkwood before he left the saloon. "Let me explain something to you, Kirkwood." Eliot said.</p><p>"Yeah?" Kirkwood said, coming down the stairs.</p><p>"Next time you hit somebody in the stomach and you want 'em to stay down..." Eliot blocked Kirkwood's hand. "You gotta hit him in the solar plexus!" Eliot growled as he punched Kirkwood in the solar plexus a couple of times, causing Kirkwood to bend over in pain.</p><p>Kaira then shoved Kirkwood into the wooden staircase and kicked his shins.</p><p>"See the difference?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"That's for trying to kill my husband, you son of a bitch!" Kaira exclaimed, walking to Eliot.</p><p>They met up with Nate as Kirkwood was being arrested. Kaye Lynn was getting hounded by A&amp;R people. Nate handed the tape to Eliot. Kaye Lynn saw the couple and excused herself and walked over as Nate clicked his tongue and left.</p><p>"There are a lot of A&amp;Rs who want to meet with me. Thank you. For my brother too." Kaye Lynn said.</p><p>"For what? It was all you." Eliot said.</p><p>"Thank you for keeping your promise." Kaye Lynn said.</p><p>"Ah, that reminds me." Kaira said as she grabbed the tape from Eliot. She handed it to Kaye Lynn as she gasped.</p><p>"That's for you. That's for your trip to Nashville." Eliot said, happy for Kaye Lynn. Kaira was too.</p><p>"You can come with me, you know. You're a natural-born country star if I've ever seen one." Kaye Lynn said, causing Eliot to chuckle.</p><p>"Some roads you start going down, well, you can't turn back, and... I'm about 100 miles down one of those right now, so..." Eliot said, before someone interrupted, wanting to talk to Kaye Lynn.</p><p>"You sound like a bad country song." Kaira joked, causing the trio to laugh.</p><p>Some A&amp;R guys took Kaye Lynn away, wanting to talk to her. Eliot and Kaira smiled, happy that Kaye Lynn got a chance to live her dream. Eliot and Kaira walked up to Nate.</p><p>"Ready?" Nate asked the couple.</p><p>"Yeah." Eliot said, walking hand in hand with Kaira. The rest of the team joined them.</p><p>"Tell me something, man. How'd you take those two guys out by yourself?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Oh, they got into a fight." Nate said, telling the story he told Kirkwood.</p><p>"Yeah, but, really how'd you do it?" Eliot asked again.</p><p>"Can't say It any plainer, they got into a fight." Nate repeated, sticking with the story.</p><p>"You're not - you're not gonna tell me." Eliot realized.</p><p>"And where were you two when all of this was going on, huh?" Sophie asked the couple.</p><p>"What? I was getting notes from Kaira on my performance." Eliot said, dismissing it.</p><p>"Oh. How were you?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"No complaints." Eliot said.</p><p>A girl approached Eliot. "Excuse me, sir?" The girl said to Eliot.</p><p>"Yeah. Oh." Eliot started chuckling. Eliot grabbed her notebook to sign. "Man. All right. This is the last one, sweetie." Eliot said.</p><p>"I just wanted to know what time it was." The girl said.</p><p>Eliot got annoyed as Nate cleared his throat.</p><p>"Yeah, I know. It's late. Go home. It's past your bedtime." Eliot told the girl off, walking past.</p><p>The team followed behind.</p><p>A few days later, the team was back at HQ. Eliot and Kaira were laying in bed.</p><p>"You know, it's been six years since I've known you, Kaira." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira chuckled. "Yeah." Kaira said, realizing that it's been that long already.</p><p>"I got you something." Eliot said. He got out of bed and went to his jacket and came back with a cassette tape. He put it in the radio in the bedroom. He turned it on as Kaira got out of bed and joined Eliot.</p><p>Kaira heard the familiar strumming, realizing it was the same song that Eliot performed.</p><p>(Video just below if you want to listen to it again!)</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlc_PlLd0bE</p><p>Kaira smiled once the song was over. "I thought you didn't get time to record it?" Kaira questioned Eliot, who let go of her to put the tape back.</p><p>"I recorded it before we left while you went shopping with Sophie." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira walked up to Eliot at the radio and pecked his neck with her lips, causing the hair to stick up on Eliot's neck. "I love it." Kaira whispered, smiling.</p><p>Eliot turned around. "I'm glad." Eliot said. Eliot cupped Kaira's neck and pulled her into a soft kiss. "I love you, Princess." Eliot chuckled.</p><p>"I love you, Cowboy." Kaira chuckled.</p><p>Eliot put his hands on Kaira's ass and lifted her up and kissed her, moving her to the bed, and sitting her on it.</p><p>Kaira removed her top and Eliot removed his as they continued kissing. Kaira moved back on the bed, and Eliot moved with her. Eliot peppered Kaira's stomach with kisses and Kaira enjoyed it. Kaira sat up and Eliot followed. He sat at the edge of the bed and Kaira kissed his neck, all the way to his shoulder.</p><p>"If I would've been a singer, instead of what I am today, how would our lives be different, do you think?" Eliot asked Kaira.</p><p>She put her arms around Eliot's neck. "I would still love you. But you would be away for a while. And I probably would have psyched myself out and probably end up breaking your heart." Kaira said, honest.</p><p>"You would never break my heart, Kaira. Because you are my heart." Eliot smiled, knowing how cheesy the line was.</p><p>Kaira laughed and lightly smacked Eliot. "That was so bad!" Kaira joked, making fun of the pickup line Eliot used.</p><p>"Yeah. It was. Made you laugh, though." Eliot pointed out, pleased with himself.</p><p>"Yes, you did." Kaira said. She got up and straddled Eliot, her front-facing him. She planted a kiss on his lips.</p><p>"Did you think we'd ever end up here? Married? Our own place in Boston?" Eliot questioned.</p><p>Kaira thought a moment. "No. Remember that fight we got into when I first joined up with you?" Kaira asked, soft.</p><p>Eliot sighed, thinking of the memory. "Yeah. The one where I tried to let you go, saying you could've had a better life with your uncle?" Eliot questioned, knowing he had the right memory.</p><p>"And I was stubborn as hell and I told you that you couldn't hide behind your sins that are running your face. I told you I thought you weren't that tough and was just scared of love." Kaira said.</p><p>"And then you told me I would take up that much space for me." Eliot realized, not liking the sad memory.</p><p>"I was scared that you'd just leave in the middle of the night so I wouldn't follow you. Before this team, I was so convinced that you were too much of a player to want to settle down, especially with someone like me." Kaira admitted.</p><p>Eliot hugged her. "And I was scared you wouldn't want to settle with someone who's done the things I have." Eliot admitted.</p><p>"Well, I think we both proved each other wrong." Kaira smiled.</p><p>Eliot did too, holding up Kaira's left hand, which had her wedding and engagement ring on her finger.</p><p>Kaira chuckled. "To more adventures?" Kaira questioned, almost toasting without the glass.</p><p>"To more adventures." Eliot smiled.</p><p>Kaira kissed Eliot and pushed him on the bed, her fingers through his hair, grabbing his face as Eliot grabbed Kaira's waist. They smiled and chuckled, content with sharing this moment together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! This episode is one of my favorites, so I hope I did it justice! I also love Christian Kane's voice, so I apologize for the amount of times I put "Thinking of You" in the story. Now, time for the featured Leverage edit for this chapter:<br/>https://youtu.be/fCvux33FmuI<br/>Of course I had to go with a edit that featured my man! He is so freaking talented, how can I not! </p><p>With all of that out of the way, I hope you liked this chapter! So, it's looking less likely I will be releasing the Christmas chapter before Christmas, and it'll be released the day after probably. I'm really sorry that I may miss the deadline. I'm trying my best. Remember to vote and share this story with your friends! Much love you all! Stay Safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. The Gone Fishin' Job (3x7)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team is back! This time, the team is targeting a debt collector who is stealing from taxpayers. Things get complicated when Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison get kidnapped by domestic terrorists the debt collector is funding with the taxpayer money. Can the trio escape and stop a sinister plot?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! I'm back with another chapter! I hope you're enjoying this series! Thank you to everyone who has read this story! I honestly love this series, and the fact that so many of you do as well, it fills me with so much confidence with my writing that I may write my own book (Possibly, still working on the details) once I get my new laptop. I would never have considered writing a book if this series hadn't done so well and I didn't get all the positivity I am getting on the series! So, thank you! Thank you all so much! Now, lets continue before I start crying! Here is chapter 7 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate called the team in. The case was a single mom who was humiliated by someone masquerading as someone from the IRS and maxed out her credit card. Though, Eliot was grumpy as they had just gotten done with a job.</p><p>Kaira tossed Eliot an ice pack as they went to sit down. Parker was playing with a pinata, candy all around it, and Sophie was drinking tea.</p><p>"Look, all I'm saying is, is I don't understand why we can't have a couple of days off in between jobs. We just spent 10 days in Juarez." Eliot said, sitting down as Kaira positioned herself to massage Eliot's neck, as he was a bit sore.</p><p>"What's the matter? You don't like the pinatas I bought?" Parker asked, her hand inside the pinata.</p><p>"All right, listen. No - no time off, all right? We got a lot of work to do. Hardison, run it." Nate said, joining the group at the table as Hardison got his presentation loaded up.</p><p>Eliot was groaning, not really happy. Kaira groaned back, silently telling Eliot to relax.</p><p>"All right. The first rule of crime is follow the money. Now, Ms. Salazar's money ran through three different shell companies before it ended up with this guy. Hugh Whitman." Hardison pulled up his image. "He runs a big debt collection agency outside of Boston called Financial Support Associates." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Well, it makes sense. I mean, he's got bill collectors already on his payroll. He just sends them after people who owe back taxes. He keeps the money." Eliot said, a bit more relaxed since Kaira was rubbing his neck.</p><p>"But the names of those people, they're not public. So how does he know who to target?" Sophie pointed out.</p><p>"Well, Whitman worked for the IRS for 20 years. He probably had a friend leak him a list." Nate said.</p><p>Parker then pulled out a piece of candy. "Ooh, I got it! I got it!" Parker explained, excited.</p><p>The team looked at her, signaling that it was the wrong time.</p><p>"We steal the list." Parker said, throwing the candy down.</p><p>"We need a way in. What did you find out about Whitman on the internet?" Nate asked, joining Hardison at the screen.</p><p>"Nothing." Hardison chuckled.</p><p>"What do you mean nothing?" Nate asked.</p><p>"He's not on the net, man. At all. Which is strange because his company deals with such high tech. You know, they do this thing where they spoof you caller I.D to make it seem like your grandma's calling, when it's really one of their bill collectors." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Sweet." Eliot said, sarcastic.</p><p>"Go back to the money. You said Whitman routed his money through three different shell companies, right?" Nate questioned.</p><p>"Mm-hmm." Hardison confirmed.</p><p>"Where is it now?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Somewhere in the boondocks at a bank called Turner Creek. It's under an account named Patriot Limited. Now, there's no ties to Whitman, and that's why the cops can't touch him." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Good. We can work with that." Nate said, turning around. "Okay, I want a two-pronged attack. One team is gonna go convince Whitman his money isn't safe there at the bank." Nate said.</p><p>"That's - me, Kaira, and Hardison got the bank." Eliot said, pointing to Kaira then Hardison.</p><p>Kaira liked the plan.</p><p>"We're doing what, now?" Hardison said, not liking it.</p><p>"Mm-Hmm." Eliot confirmed, with Kaira smiling.</p><p>"Okay, after you guys have spooked Whitman, Sophie, you go and hook him with a new place to stash his cash. Questions?" Nate laid down the plan.</p><p>Parker was rattling the pinata, getting candy everywhere. This irritated Eliot, who put down the ice pack and ripped the head off the pinata, causing Parker to gasp and whimper. Eliot got up and Nate left to work on his part of the plan.</p><p>"I'll fix it. We can fix it. We'll fix it. It's okay." Parker said, placing the head back on the pinata, the team left giving her weird looks.</p><p>Soon, Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison were at the bank, getting into their covers. They opened the back of the car, revealing IRS jackets.</p><p>"Dude, I don't know what you're complaining about, all right? I got us the bank. We're in, we're out, and we get to go throw a worm in the water." Eliot said, tossing the jackets to Kaira and Hardison, who put them on.</p><p>"Yeah, it'll be relaxing. Though you mess that shoulder up again, and I will kill you. I spent the last two days taking care of your grumpy ass." Kaira said, smiling at Eliot, who got the message as they walked to the bank.</p><p>"All so you can go fishing in the woods." Hardison said.</p><p>"That's right." Eliot said.</p><p>"Man, I go fishing at the grocery store. I don't see why I had to come." Hardison said, not liking being disconnected.</p><p>"It'll be good for you. Get you off the computer for a while. Give your eyes a break. When's the last time you were outside?" Kaira asked.</p><p>Just then an insect buzzed and Hardison swatted at it, bumping into Eliot, who got his jacket on.</p><p>"Hey, man." Eliot warned.</p><p>"Man! Hey, man, did you see the size of that mosquito? That thing had a beak, man." Hardison said, complaining. He then sniffed the air. "What's that smell?" Hardison asked, causing Kaira to chuckle.</p><p>"Fresh country air, Hardison. Nothing like it." Kaira said, liking not smelling the city for a tad.</p><p>"I don't like it." Hardison said.</p><p>They walked inside the bank. Eliot took off his hat and zipped up his jacket.</p><p>"Who's in charge here?" Eliot asked, using a Boston accent.</p><p>A stout older man approached the trio. "Uh, how can - How can I help you?" The guy asked, nervous from reading the jackets.</p><p>"I'll tell you how you can help us. This is Agent Brody." Eliot introduced Hardison. "I'm Agent Quint. Eliot introduced himself.</p><p>"And I'm Special Agent Hopper." Kaira introduced herself, using a Boston accent as well.</p><p>"With the Criminal Investigation Unit of the IRS." Eliot said, putting his badge away.</p><p>"Well, uh, w-what can I do for you?" The guy asked.</p><p>"We need the records of all the accounts in the name of Patriot Limited." Hardison said.</p><p>"O-o-of course. Uh, r-right this way. I'll get them for you. Have a seat here." The guy said, nervous as he gestured to the two seats. "We don't get many folks way out here. Uh, why don't you just have a seat and I'll bring that account right up?" The guy suggested as Eliot and Hardison sat down, Kaira standing beside them.</p><p>Kaira swore she saw a guy behind the desk get on his phone, knowing he was going to warn Whitman about the account.</p><p>Meanwhile, at Whitman's office, Sophie walked up to him, ready to set up her part of the con. "Mr. Whitman, my name is Colette Madison. We have some mutual friends over at the IRS." Sophie said, using an American accent.</p><p>"Oh, well, go ahead and leave your résumé with human resources." Whitman said, going to his office door.</p><p>"It's about your account at Turner Creek Bank." Sophie said, setting the bait.</p><p>Whitman turned around, probably wondering how this woman knew about the account. "I don't have an account at Turner Creek Bank." Whitman said.</p><p>"No, but Patriot Limited does. And that's you." Sophie said. She walked up to the door. "May I?" She asked, opening the door. Sophie walked in and started secretly looking around, spotting a grenade on the desk and not a lot of decor. Sophie picked up the grenade to look at it.</p><p>"Who are you?" Whitman asked.</p><p>Sophie put the grenade down and turned to face Whitman.</p><p>"Think of me as a matchmaker. I bring together parties who can benefit each other. For a fee of course." Sophie explained.</p><p>"I don't need your help." Whitman said.</p><p>"Unfortunately, you do. I'm here to tell you that your money isn't safe at Turner Creek Bank anymore." Sophie explained.</p><p>Just then there was a knock at the door. "Now now." Whitman said to the guy coming in. "It's urgent." The guy said.</p><p>"Okay, good timing, Sophie. Now, Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison should be finishing up at the bank right about now." Nate said over comms.</p><p>Whitman told his guy to follow him. They talked outside before Whitman walked in. Sophie sat on the couch nearby, a glass of liquid courage in it.</p><p>"They're there already, aren't they?" Sophie asked.</p><p>Whitman went up to his desk. "How did you know?" Whitman asked, putting his briefcase on the desk.</p><p>"I told you. I have friends at the IRS. They're on to you, Mr. Whitman." Sophie said, taking a sip of her drink.</p><p>"Well, if you know my former department at the IRS, then you probably know Charlie Dean. How is the old boy?" Whitman said, revealing his source.</p><p>Nate and Parker were at the apartment, standing at the table. "Now, that must be Whitman's source inside the IRS." Nate realized.</p><p>"Yeah, we need Hardison. Or Kaira." Parker said.</p><p>"No. No, we don't. Sophie, I want you to tell him that the last time you saw Charles was at his funeral." Nate ordered.</p><p>Parker mouthed, "What?" confused about what Nate was planning.</p><p>Sophie got the cue and put her glass down. "Haven't you heard? I'm so sorry. It was a beautiful service." Sophie said, stone-faced.</p><p>Whitman got the idea and went to sit down. "All right. You have my attention, Ms. Madison. If my bank isn't safe, what is?" Whitman asked, sitting on the loveseat.</p><p>"I want to introduce you to someone who runs an alternative financial institution." Sophie said.</p><p>"How'd you know that?" Parker asked, impressed.</p><p>Nate shook his head no a couple of times.</p><p>"Do you know when I'm gonna die? Do ya?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Parker." Nate said.</p><p>"What?" Parker asked.</p><p>Back at the bank, Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira were done with Whitman. Unfortunately, the comms weren't working, though they had them in, so they couldn't tell Nate or Sophie they were done. The trio was talking and walking to the car.</p><p>"You think that was enough to spook Whitman?" Eliot asked.</p><p>Hardison and Kaira were taking off their jackets. "Don't know. Comms and mobiles don't work up here, so we have to call Nate from a landline." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Yeah, well you can use the phone at the bait shop while I tackle us up. We'll grab something to eat. Come on!" Eliot said, getting excited as he put the jackets in the car.</p><p>"Look at me. I look like somebody eats at a bait shop?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"No." Eliot said.</p><p>Just then another male voice was heard. "You fellas are gonna want to come with me." The guy said, decked out in camo, causing the trio to turn to face him.</p><p>"Excuse you? We're just trying to go fishing." Kaira said, not happy.</p><p>"Make any sudden moves and my boys will blow your heads right off." The guy said.</p><p>Just then multiple guys with guns with military-grade weaponry revealed themselves, red laser dots on all three of their chests. Kaira and Eliot stayed calm, knowing what was about to happen. Hardison was panicking. They got loaded in a van and Eliot and Hardison were handcuffed together as Kaira was handcuffed to Eliot. This was a problem. Eliot had his eyes closed, counting. Kaira was also counting, but silently, mapping out the drive route in their heads, something both husband and wife were taught to do in the army, and their other jobs.</p><p>"Hey, man, this van is old. I-I bet if we rush that door, we could pop the lock. You ready?" Hardison whispered, making a plan.</p><p>"Shut up." Kaira warned, not wanting to distract Eliot.</p><p>"At least I'm trying to get us out of here. What are you guys doing?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"I'm drawing a map, Hardison." Eliot said. He continued counting as the van continued to wherever they were going. This was not the ideal situation to be in, to say the least, but at least Kaira and Eliot knew what to do in this situation.</p><p>Meanwhile, an unaware Nate, Sophie, and Parker got ready to introduce Whitman to his new "bank". Parker got rid of all the women on the spin bikes and Nate got rid of the manager of the gym they were taking over.</p><p>Sophie walked in to the office, Whitman not impressed. "Hugh Whitman, Vic Pellington. He's the owner." Sophie introduced them as Nate was throwing a small basketball to the hoop on the wall near the door.</p><p>"Hey, come on in. Have a seat. So, what do you think of our little operation we got here?" Nate asked, taking a drink from a large fast food drink cup.</p><p>"Well, it's a low-rent gym for housewives. Doesn't look like a bank to me." Whitman said, unimpressed.</p><p>"No, that's true. Yeah. One of them is - is nothing. But you get five of these places, and I'm telling you - it's a money-laundering machine." Nate explained his set up.</p><p>"Vic owns 25 Images Franchises. He sells interests to discerning businessmen like yourself looking to hide the source of their income." Sophie continued explaining.</p><p>"Except that only works when you have customers to explain the cash flow. This place is empty." Whitman said, not sure how the whole thing worked.</p><p>"And that right there, that's the beauty of the health club industry, because 80 percent of the people, they, uh, they pay the membership but they never come. Have a seat." Nate said.</p><p>Whitman sat down.</p><p>"We have all these names - name after name of these members that never come in in our databank." Nate continued explaining.</p><p>"Give Vic your money to wash and he just adds names to the membership roster. Your dirty money becomes clean profit." Sophie explained.</p><p>"So she gets a finder's fee?" Whitman asked.</p><p>"She does." Nate answered.</p><p>"What about you?" Whitman asked Nate.</p><p>"My rake is 15 percent." Nate said.</p><p>Whitman didn't like the idea.</p><p>"Oh, yeah, but with that, what you get is you get detailed papers that show that you're an investor in Images for over a year. You get board-meeting minutes. It's all on the up." Nate continued explaining.</p><p>"Okay, what's the catch?" Whitman asked.</p><p>"Well, the only catch is that I need an answer, now, today, because - I got one slot left, okay, and you're not the only bidder." Nate explained.</p><p>"All right, well, I'm gonna want to look at what you think are detailed records." Whitman said, taking off his coat.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah. Sure. I got, uh..." Nate said, going to grab the papers.</p><p>"I'm very intimate with the tax code, Vic. I used to be district manager with the Internal Revenue Service." Whitman explained, going to look at the paper.</p><p>"That's cool." Nate said.</p><p>Meanwhile, the kidnapped trio were standing at the camp of these guys and they looked at the jackets the trio had that they took off.</p><p>"Internal Revenue Service. Taking money from hard-working Americans and shipping it straight to China." The leader said.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were looking at the guys putting a label on the van, making it look like a delivery van, and boxes of molasses and fertilizer.</p><p>"You smell that?" Eliot asked, quietly.</p><p>"Yeah." Kaira whispered.</p><p>"Smell of death? Yes I do." Hardison whispered to Eliot before turning to the guys in front of them. "Look, man, that's not even real. Right? See, I make those up from a little -" Harrison said when the guy punched him in the stomach. Hardison starting coughing.</p><p>Eliot recognized who the guys were. "Turner Creek Minutemen. Anti-Government Militia, huh?" Eliot questioned, knowing he was right.</p><p>"Anti-Government Freedom Fighters." The guy corrected Eliot. "They say the war is coming, Tax men, but it's already begun. What do you call a man who takes your property, enriches your adversaries, and deprives you of your liberty?" The leader said, circling the trio.</p><p>Kaira noticed a younger boy, couldn't be much younger than she was when she joined the army.</p><p>"Your enemy." Eliot said, staring the leader, Chester, down.</p><p>"Consider yourselves casualties of war." Chester said.</p><p>The guy behind them kicked Hardison to his knees. The guy went to Eliot next, who wouldn't go down. He went to Kaira next and did the same. Kaira laughed as she grunted under her knee being kicked, but stayed standing.</p><p>"That's cute. You think this is a war? I've seen war. You would shit your pants if you've seen what I've seen." Kaira said, taunting the leader. She turned to the young boy. "I wasn't much older than you when I joined the army. I had that same look in your eye the first time I was handed a gun. Let me tell you something, boy. War doesn't give a shit which side you're on, no one wins. Both sides lose brothers and sisters that died for what they think is freedom. Do you want that to be you? Someone who loses everything? Become a martyr? Cause you're just gonna watch your brothers and sisters die. And there's nothing you can do. That ain't a way to die." Kaira stared right at the young boy, getting her message in his head as the guy behind the trio aimed his gun.</p><p>The couple looking at each other, knowing that they weren't going down without a fight.</p><p>"It ain't gonna happen, Bubba." Eliot threatened, growling.</p><p>"I got two standing and one kneeling." The guy behind said.</p><p>"Make it work." Chester ordered.</p><p>The guy behind them cocked his gun and aimed it at Hardison's head. "Whoa! Hey! Hey! Hold up! Hold up, man! C-C-Can I at least get a-a cigarette?" Hardison asked Chester.</p><p>"What?" Chester asked Hardison.</p><p>"C-Can I get a cigarette? As an enemy combatant, I'm entitled to one last cigarette according to Geneva Convention Article 89, paragraph 3, subsection K." Hardison said.</p><p>Chester knew what Hardison was saying, but didn't like it.</p><p>"No, y-y-you know it." Hardison turned to Eliot.</p><p>"Are we combatants or not?" Eliot asked, knowing Hardison was buying time. Chester smiled, not liking the idea, but knowing he had to honor it.</p><p>"Fine. Brandon... Give the man a cigarette." Chester ordered the young boy.</p><p>Brandon grabbed a cigarette and tried to give it to Hardison, who pulled back. "Those menthol lights?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"No." Brandon said. Brandon put the cigarette in Hardison's mouth and went to grab matches from his jacket chest pocket.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira saw boxes being stacked.</p><p>Brandon fumbled with the matches.</p><p>"Come on, now." Hardison rushed Brandon, causing him to fumble more. "Go on. Take your time." Hardison said, causing Brandon to drop the match and search for it, allowing Hardison to drop the cigarette from his mouth and pocket it for later.</p><p>"Oh, for God's sake, Brandon!" Chester exclaimed, not happy with the boy.</p><p>"For God's sake, Brandon!" Hardison yelled.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot quickly turned, with Kaira grabbing the gun and pushing it down, aiming the bullet to the ground at Eliot grabbed Kaira's hand to make a fist to flip him to the ground, and Kaira kicked him for good measure and they ran like hell out of the woods, guns firing.</p><p>"You see that? That's called a plan!" Hardison yelled.</p><p>"What plan, man? Smoke cigarettes and die!" Eliot yelled as they kept running.</p><p>"Shut the hell up, both of you!" Kaira yelled, fed up with both of their grumpiness.</p><p>"This way!" Eliot yelled, leading the way.</p><p>Kaira heard the dogs barking, so she knew they would have to deal with that.</p><p>Back at Whitman's office, Parker was doing her job, staying in cover, answering the phone, realizing what the guy she was calling about the outstanding balance was for, which was for an Oncology center.</p><p>Nate was at the fitness center with Whitman, still looking over the documents.</p><p>"Parker, why aren't you in Whitman's office yet?" Nate asked, quietly and discreetly.</p><p>"Uh, 'cause it's my first day at work." Parker said. She kept deleting things and took off her headset.</p><p>"On my way now." Parker said, getting up and grabbing her coat.</p><p>Kaira, Eliot, and Hardison were still running, gaining some distance between the minutemen and themselves. Eliot told them to stop.</p><p>"What do you mean, stop? Why we stop running?" Hardison asked, worried.</p><p>"Listen to me, all right? Listen to me! The van was averaging 45 miles an hour, right? We were in their for 22 minutes. We took two turns off the highway. That's 17 miles north of town. We need to go south. That's south." Eliot said, lifting up his and Kaira's hand to point to south.</p><p>"Says you and what compass?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"His, Hardison. Eliot's right. I counted to. If there's one thing the army taught me, it's finding directions. Eliot's right." Kaira said, grabbing her bobby pin from her hair as Eliot and Hardison started arguing.</p><p>"How about some sense, man. That's uphill. Running downhill is faster. That's proven science." Hardison argued.</p><p>Kaira tried to get her locked pick, but the dogs were near. Eliot and Hardison did rock paper scissors, not having enough time to do anything else. Eliot won.</p><p>"Damn it! Again?" Hardison said, not happy.</p><p>"You got a tell, man. You got a tell." Eliot said.</p><p>They started running again as Kaira put her pin back.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker was in Whitman's office. She was looking at the various things in the back of his room.</p><p>"If I were a super-secret government document, where would I hide?" Parker asked herself, tracing the bookcase. She noticed a book out of place and pulled it, opening a secret room. "Bingo." Parker said, going inside. There was a lot of memorabilia from wartime, including a flag and a map. Parker plugged in a thumb drive in the computer and started typing, finding the list. She printed it out. Parker noticed a wooden crate, so she picked the lock, revealing guns in the box. "Guys, I found the list, but that's not all I found. I found guns." Parker reported.</p><p>Nate and Sophie looked at each other. Nate grabbed his phone, acting like he got a phone call.</p><p>"Ahh, geez. Sorry, I- go ahead. I-I got to take this call." Nate said. He answered the phone, acting like it was the board as he left.</p><p>"Looks like he's stealing from the taxpayers to buy weapons. And flags." Parker reported, looking at the flags.</p><p>"Flags, huh? What kind of flags?" Nate asked.</p><p>"White with a green tree inside a blue shield with a star and a ribbon around it. It says, "Ense petit placidam, sub libertate quietem." Parker said, not knowing what it meant.</p><p>"By the sword, we seek peace, but only under liberty. Well, that's from the Massachusetts state flag. The tree, that's from the original colonial flag." Nate explained.</p><p>"So he's a historian." Parker said, not knowing what it meant.</p><p>"With an arsenal. No wonder we can't find anything about this guy online. He's got a little secret. I'm gonna try something." Nate said.</p><p>Parker started taking pictures of everything.</p><p>Nate entered the office. "I'm so sorry. The local council wants to put up handicap ramps all over the parking lot." Nate explained the phone call, going behind his desk. "You know, next thing you know, we're gonna have to put braille in the, uh, you know, the free weights. It's getting to be ridiculous, these people." Nate said, upset. He looked outside. "Hey, uh, is that your yellow hummer over there?" Nate asked.</p><p>"That it is." Whitman said.</p><p>"Boy, that's a sweet ride, huh?" Nate said, complimenting the car.</p><p>"Well-made machine." Whitman said, ignoring Nate.</p><p>"Yeah, a beauty. She's nice." Nate said, giving Sophie the cue he was about to start his idea. "I appreciate a man who buys American, I'll tell you that. Used to work for the government myself. I'm going back a few years, but, uh, you know, back then, we all believed in the same principles." Nate said, sitting down.</p><p>"It's true. Yeah, the system, it's - it's - it's broken down." Sophie said, going along with Nate, getting Whitman's attention.</p><p>"It certainly is." Nate said.</p><p>"Whatever happened to "by the people, for the people", huh?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"I spent 20 years with the IRS. You think after all that time and all that money I collected, any of it went to protect the interest of real Americans? No. We just hand it off to other agencies. They dole it out to welfare cheats and border jumpers and whatever black-hole programs keep the incumbents in office." Whitman said.</p><p>Sophie chuckled, acting like she was agreeing with Whitman. Whitman sighed.</p><p>"Yeah, taxpayers these days... they're a bunch of sheep. Just blind followers who don't even realize their liberty is under constant assault by the government that they've elected. It's pathetic." Whitman said, showing his true colors.</p><p>"Preaching to the choir." Nate said, acting like he agreed.</p><p>"You know, that money that, uh, the IRS is looking for in that bank? I told you. It's not mine. It belongs to the revolution. And it's coming." Whitman said, almost as a warning.</p><p>"That's why you got to act fast, Hugh. You've got those, uh, IRS agents snooping around." Sophie said, hoping Whitman would reveal what happened to the trio who went to the bank.</p><p>Whitman scoffed. "I wouldn't worry about them. I had them taken care of." Whitman said.</p><p>Nate, Sophie, and Parker did not like that.</p><p>Whitman excused himself, offering for Nate and Sophie to stop by later with the papers to get an answer.</p><p>Nate and Sophie both sighed, knowing this wasn't good. "Parker, have you, uh, talked to Eliot, Kaira, or Hardison today?" Nate asked, hoping he was wrong.</p><p>"No. Uh, they could be out of range, o-or..." Parker said, worried for her friends, not liking the alternative.</p><p>"Or in a lot of trouble." Nate said, knowing they had to come up with something. Sophie and Nate went up to Whitman's office, entering the front door as Parker went back to "work".</p><p>"I don't like it, Nate. Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison should have checked in by now. I think we should call the police." Sophie said, worried about the trio.</p><p>"And tell them what? Three of our friends are impersonating IRS agents at a bank?" Nate said, not liking it, but knowing it was the choice he had to make.</p><p>"Whitman said, "I took care of them."" Sophie said, worried.</p><p>"Parker and I will find the boys and Kaira. You go close Whitman." Nate said, going to leave.</p><p>Back in the forest, Eliot told them to wait.</p><p>"We've got to get them off our scent." Eliot said, grabbing a plant he recognized, which smelled bad.</p><p>"What's that?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Just rub it on you! It's skunkweed." Eliot said, handing some to Hardison to rub on him as Kaira grabbed some and tried not to breathe in the smell, knowing it was what needed done.</p><p>Hardison did not like the smell.</p><p>"It'll get the dogs off our scent, Hardison! Quit whining." Kaira argued, rubbing it anyway on Hardison.</p><p>Hardison still objected, pulling away from Kaira as Eliot rubbed it on Hardison.</p><p>"Rub it on your damn body! It'll throw the dogs off." Eliot said, annoyed.</p><p>"Mnh-mnh. I can taste the smell in my mouth. It's strong." Hardison argued.</p><p>"Just do it!" Kaira exclaimed, also annoyed.</p><p>Eliot bent down to grab something, taking a couple of steps forward, and held his hand up.</p><p>"Hey. All right. High five. A high five for morale!" Eliot said, getting Hardison to high five him, cutting him, and putting the blood on the tree in a handprint.</p><p>"What the hell, man?" Hardison asked, not happy.</p><p>"I know what I'm doing!" Eliot argued.</p><p>"Gangrene, man! Gangrene! You know what? We wouldn't even be in this mess if you ain't wanted to go fishing! I could have taken you down to mama's fish shack and go you a catfish, two pieces, and a biscuit for $5.99. But instead, you got us out here with trigger happy Joes trying to fish us!" Hardison argued as they kept moving. "And he's all too happy to shoot himself a negro!" Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira groaned, not wanting to deal with this conversation anymore.</p><p>"Oh, so it's a black thing now? Is that it? They're hunting me and her too, all right!" Eliot said, getting angry.</p><p>"Damn skippy, it's a black thing! Who they try to shoot first? Who got punched first? Me! I'm about tired of this redneck-" Hardison argued.</p><p>"Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot yelled.</p><p>"Damn it, Eliot!" Hardison yelled.</p><p>Kaira had enough of the bickering. "Shut the hell up! Both of you! Before I smack you both! Hardison, you were the one they were gonna shoot first cause it's easier to shoot someone down on their knees than someone standing up. So shut the hell up!" Kaira yelled, causing the two to look at Kaira. "Look, Hardison, listen to Eliot about what to do to get out of here." Kaira said, hoping that her outburst worked.</p><p>"We've both done this before." Eliot said.</p><p>"This, right here? I-In the woods, handcuffed to a man?" Hardison asked as the dogs were heard again.</p><p>"Yes, I have, okay? It was easier last time, though." Eliot said.</p><p>"Why?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Cause he was already dead." Eliot said. They continued running.</p><p>Back at the office, Nate was walking with Parker down a hallway.</p><p>"Okay, what do you got?" Nate asked.</p><p>"I've got a map - well, part of a map. I don't know what it means. What if Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison have already-" Parker was about to ask when Nate stopped her.</p><p>"Let's go in here." Nate said, going into a side office.</p><p>"Okay, so Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira, they need us to stay calm, so, uh, show me what you got, and, uh, we'll figure out how to save them." Nate said.</p><p>Parker got on her phone to pull up the pictures when static was heard.</p><p>"Guys! Eliot, Hardison, Kiddo! Can you hear me?" Nate's voice came over the comms for the first time in forever.</p><p>They all stopped. "Nate! Nate, you're breaking up! Woods! 17 miles from the bank." Kaira quickly got out, knowing there wasn't much time. As Kaira guessed, the static was lost.</p><p>"Damn it. Can you hear him?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"No, man. It's cloud cover. Day like this, we got to bounce our signal off a radio tower." Hardison said.</p><p>"How do we do that?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Get a clear view of the sky." Hardison said. He looked at the trees all around them, noticing they were high.</p><p>"Okay, so we climb." Kaira said.</p><p>They got ready to climb up. They climbed up, rough, but they managed, using the cuffs as a rope to get traction.</p><p>Back at the office, Parker set up the projector on her phone to display the photos.</p><p>"Okay, here it is." Parker said, going to the picture of the map.</p><p>"All right, that's Whitman's militia camp. Uh, it doesn't show where. Now, Kaira said they were 17 miles from the bank. Let's get -" Nate said as Parker booted up the computer, a cat meme popping up, which scared Parker. She loaded up the location of the bank on the computer.</p><p>"It's got to be in here somewhere." Nate said as Parker put a 17 miles radius in green around the banks location, represented by a thumbtack.</p><p>"From the bank... to here. Right there. It's, uh, same creek, isn't it?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Yeah, no paved roads. No people for miles. In the middle of nowhere." Parker said.</p><p>Nate agreed with the location. "Nate, hey? Can you hear me?" Hardison came over the comms, a lot of static was heard though.</p><p>"Hardison? Are you okay?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Can't talk very loud. These militia guys are following us, and they're and I'm pretty sure we pissed them off." Eliot said, sitting beside Kaira as Hardison was on the other side of the tree trunk.</p><p>"Listen - now, there are railroad tracks a mile and a half west of the camp. Can you get there?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Sure. But what if there's no train?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Well, there will be. We're gonna steal you one." Nate said.</p><p>Sophie was in Whitman's office, going through the paper records.</p><p>"Your records are very thorough. Very impressive. I do have some questions about the profit-sharing, however." Whitman said.</p><p>Sophie turned back in. "Huh? Oh, oh, the, uh, the, uh-" Sophie stumbled. "The nuts and bolts of the operation are really Vics forte." Sophie explained her lack of an answer.</p><p>"Where is he? I thought he was coming with you." Whitman said, wondering where Nate was.</p><p>"Oh, he's here. He's uh, he's on a conference call." Sophie explained away, chuckling nervously. "Money laundering - it isn't all champagne and helicopters, is it?" Sophie said, buying time.</p><p>Parker went back to her desk to put a plan into action. "Okay, Nate. I'm in. Let's go steal a... Whoo! Whoo!" Parker motioned pulling a whistle, chuckling at herself.</p><p>"Okay, Parker, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna call your station. You're gonna patch me through to the Department of Transportation. Now, use the company's caller-I.D Spoofing software to make my call look like it's coming from Fitchburg." Nate ordered.</p><p>Parker followed the instructions. "Okay. You're on." Parker cued up Nate.</p><p>Nate answered the phones and sent a picture to confirm the rock slides.</p><p>Sophie got the same idea and Parker spoofed her call and Sophie played the part well, then to seal the deal, Parker did the same, guaranteeing the train got rerouted.</p><p>"Okay, Eliot, Kaira, Hardison, a train on the way. It's coming from Pennsylvania. It's a produce train carrying beets." Nate said, hoping the trio heard them.</p><p>Sophie walked back into the office. "I'll take that as a good sign." Sophie said.</p><p>"Well, like I said, I still have a few questions. But we do see the world the same way. And that counts for something." Whitman said, handing a glass of scotch to Sophie.</p><p>Back in the woods, the trio dropped down after climbing down the tree. Eliot fell on his face, causing Kaira to fall on her ass, which caused a growl from both of them.</p><p>"God! Come on, man! I hate beets." Eliot said, not happy of the contents. Eliot told them to go, so they ran to the tracks.</p><p>Meanwhile, Sophie looked back at Whitman, having talked a deal.</p><p>"So? Do we have a deal?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"You will have a check by the end of the business day." Whitman said. Sophie raised her glass.</p><p>"To the revolution." Sophie toasted.</p><p>Whitman toasted back and they took a sip.</p><p>"All right, Sophie. Good work. The train is on its way to pick up the boys and Kaira. We're home free." Nate said.</p><p>Meanwhile, the trio in the forest arrived at the train tracks, hearing the train whistle blow. They were running up the bank, the tracks right next to them.</p><p>"He did it, man! He actually did it! He stole it! How's your train jumping skills, man?" Eliot said, excited they were finally getting out.</p><p>"I ain't no hobo, but I can hold my own." Hardison said.</p><p>"All right." Kaira said, getting ready when a gun was heard being cocked, and the trio being told to not move. They turned around.</p><p>"Put your hands up!" The guy ordered.</p><p>The trio held up their hands, which were still handcuffed together. "We would if you hadn't cuffed us together." Kaira retorted, not happy.</p><p>Eliot looked at Hardison. "All right, go down." Eliot told Hardison, thinking of what to do.</p><p>"Why you always-" Hardison about to say when Kaira cut off, getting the idea.</p><p>"Woah, babe, this really the time?" Kaira asked, teasing the idea to make the guy uncomfortable.</p><p>"Twist it. Not like that, man! My wife is here." Eliot said, also getting the idea.</p><p>"Rephrase that, man." Hardison said, causing an argument between the trio and movement to try and face forward, telling the guy to wait, as he pointed his gun at the trio.</p><p>Eliot ducked under Hardison, and Kaira also moved, getting them to face the guy. Eliot told Hardison off for making it hard. Kaira grabbed the gun and aimed it down and kicked his shins, bringing the guy to the ground.</p><p>"See, even handcuffed to two people, I can still whoop your ass." Kaira taunted as she threw the disarmed gun.</p><p>"Let me tell you something - tell your little boy scout troop their time's up." Eliot said, inching towards the downed goon.</p><p>"We get new recruits every day. You can't stop what we have planned. No one can." The guy said.</p><p>The trio looked at each other and kicked the guy, knocking him out.</p><p>"Come on, man. Let's go." Eliot said, climbing up the bank to the track. Eliot was about to go when Hardison told them to wait.</p><p>"What? Hardison, we got to get on this train." Eliot said.</p><p>"No, no. W-What'd you smell in that camp?" Hardison asked.</p><p>The train was going by, and time was ticking.</p><p>"What? I don't-" Eliot said.</p><p>"What were you smelling at the camp?" Hardison asked again.</p><p>"Look, man, we got to get on this train right now!" Eliot yelled, not wanting to stay much longer.</p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, what were you smelling?" Hardison repeated, clear he wanted an answer.</p><p>"Fertilizer and molasses. I saw the boxes." Kaira said, wanting to leave.</p><p>Hardison was confused.</p><p>"You can reduce the molasses down and use it as an oil for a fertilizer bomb, all right? I've seen it in Lebanon. It's better than kerosene." Eliot said.</p><p>"Okay, s-so a fertilizer bomb and a van. That's what the little hillbilly was crying about." Hardison pointed out.</p><p>"Hardison, we get on this train, and we can loop in the FBI, call in a tip." Kaira said, knowing they didn't have much time to get in the train.</p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, was the bomb mixed already? Is-is it stable?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"No. They got to use it within 48 hour." Eliot said.</p><p>"Okay, guys, we call the FBI. Maybe they make it. Maybe they don't. What happens then? We're watching a building blow up on the news, children, firemen scattered everywhere? Look, man, I say we go back down there, and we stop them." Hardison said.</p><p>The couple looked at each other, knowing Hardison had a point. There was no guarantee that the FBI could get there in time. So they stayed and the train went by, without the trio on it.</p><p>"I say we whup some hillbilly ass." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot looked at Hardison, knowing they were with him.</p><p>"We're gonna get bloody on this one." Eliot warned, wanting Hardison to know what was about to happen.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira walked down. "Kaira, you grab his walkie-talkie. You get his shoelaces and his belt. I'm getting this." Eliot said, walking to the body and grabbing the hatchet.</p><p>"Or.." Kaira said, pulling out the bobby pin in her hair. "We get out of these first." Kaira said, holding up her and Eliot's arm.</p><p>"What do you say we lose about 180 pounds each?" Eliot asked.</p><p>Hardison liked the idea. "Guess it's a good idea to bring a thief along with ya." Hardison said, glad Kaira thought of her idea.</p><p>Kaira went over and picked his cuff, un attaching him from Eliot, and removing the cuffs entirely.</p><p>Hardison grabbed his items and Kaira turned to Eliot, ready to pick his.</p><p>She put the pin in to pick the cuff. "We survive this... I'm gonna order some pizza and we're gonna move some furniture around, you understand?" Kaira teased quietly, causing a confused look from Eliot, who missed the memo.</p><p>"I don't- wait." Eliot said, realizing what Kaira meant, getting that look from Kaira.</p><p>Hardison looked over as Kaira took of the cuffs and put them in her pocket. "Ah, hell man, now! Seriously? I get your married, but time and place, you two!" Hardison said, disgusted as Eliot and Kaira chuckled, grabbing the walkie and the belt.</p><p>Kaira decided to have a little fun with the militia guys, winding them up a bit so they made a mistake, knowing she couldn't get too cocky. "Hello, whoever the asshole in charge is." Kaira said into the walkie, causing smiles from the boys. "Let me tell you how this is gonna go. You're gonna call your toy soldiers and tell them to back the hell off, and no one has to get hurt." Kaira offered, clear it was the only offer.</p><p>"Let me tell you how this is gonna go. I'm gonna send my highly trained guys, and we're gonna find you and track you down. You're trapped." Chester said over comms.</p><p>"Well, it seems we have a failure to communicate. Cause see we're not trapped out here with you. You're trapped out here with us." Kaira said, a smirk on her face, knowing these guys were screwed.</p><p>The trio left to make a plan.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker was still at her desk. "Nate, we've lost contact with Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira again." Parker said, not knowing Whitman's goon was on to her.</p><p>"Ah, they're probably on the train." Nate said.</p><p>"All right, but what about Sophie? When's she getting Whitman's check?" Parker asked.</p><p>Nate filled her in.</p><p>Sophie was finishing up with Whitman as the phone rang.</p><p>Whitman excused himself and answered the phone. "I see." Was as Whitman said to case Sophie to perk up. "No. No, I'll take care of things on this end." Whitman said.</p><p>Sophie sneakily got out of the room and walked down the hall. "Nate, our cover's blown. The revolution's starting early." Sophie reported.</p><p>Parker took the signal and got out of there, going to an elevator. "They're locking the building down. I'm gonna try and stall Owens." Parker said, taking out a bobby pin of her own. "If I can make the elevator think there's a fire, the doors won't open." Parker said, picking the lock for the control box.</p><p>"All right. Good, I'll find us a way out." Nate said, leaving the room he was in. "Listen, if Whitman is spooked, he's gonna go for his money. So we have to, uh, we have to get to the bank before he does. Eliot, Hardison, Kiddo, can you hear me? W-Where are you on the train?" Nate said.</p><p>The trio was cutting sticks and getting ready to go after these guys. "Yeah, Nate, that didn't happen." Hardison revealed, cutting the stick.</p><p>"W-what do you mean it didn't happen? What - you're not on the train?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Don't worry." Kaira said, smiling at the idea.</p><p>"Guys, y-you're telling me you're gonna go toe to toe with these people without a plan?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Oh, we got a plan. It's called C.W.A." Hardison said.</p><p>"Can of whup ass." Eliot answered.</p><p>"My favorite kind of plan." Kaira said, a calmness now that was kind of scary.</p><p>Nate thought, "Of course" as he left the room to meet up with Sophie and Parker to find a new plan. "Sophie, take the stairwell to the first floor. There are too many eyes in the lobby. We're gonna have to use the emergency exit." Nate revealed, walking through the lobby as everyone was leaving.</p><p>"On my way." Sophie said, doing what Nate said.</p><p>Parker did her thing and tricked the fire system. "Nate, it worked. The elevators are on automatic emergency protocol. They're all headed to the ground floor." Parker revealed.</p><p>They met at the elevator. "How are we gonna get out without being seen?" Parker asked Nate. "We can't hack the security system." Parker pointed out, seeing Sophie arrive.</p><p>"I was actually thinking of something a little more direct." Nate said, pulling the fire alarm. Nate told the ladies to go as he followed behind and they exited the office, undetected.</p><p>Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison were finished up making their plan. Eliot was listening to the chatter on the walkie as Hardison seemed nervous, but Eliot and Kaira were cool.</p><p>"You feeling confident?" Eliot asked Hardison.</p><p>"Not really." Hardison said, worried.</p><p>"Good. Cause overconfidence will kill you faster than a bullet any day. Fear's good." Eliot said, calm.</p><p>Kaira remembered Eliot teaching her that.</p><p>"Oh, I have fear. And doubt. And really serious regrets. I should be fine." Hardison said.</p><p>"All right. Get ready, boys." Kaira said, standing up.</p><p>Eliot walked away and Kaira grabbed Hardison's shoulder. "We got this. You're the smartest guy I know, Hardison. And Eliot's the most tactical guy I know. We'll be fine." Kaira comforted Hardison.</p><p>They got in position, ready to take out some guys.</p><p>Eliot snuck behind someone and knocked him out with a well-placed elbow.</p><p>Kaira took a guy out by hanging upside down and choked the guy, using her hand to cover his mouth.</p><p>Hardison used himself as bait and used a trap to take a guy out. "Science. It works." Hardison said, knocking the guy out with a stick to the face.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira joined up with them.</p><p>Just then guys surrounded them, telling them to freeze.</p><p>"Don't make any sudden movement." Eliot whispered as once again, guns were cocked on them.</p><p>The trio put their hands up and walked away.</p><p>They were escorted back to base camp. "Good work, Tommy." Chester said, turning around.</p><p>"Where you gonna put the van, Chester? An office building? A preschool? A church?" Hardison questioned.</p><p>"A soldier knows there are casualties in every war." Chester said.</p><p>"See, that's a difference between a real soldier and this little Halloween outfit you got going on." Eliot said, causing him to get punched in the face. "You'd kill to protect your right." Eliot said, recovering quickly from the punch.</p><p>Kaira knew the rest. "A real soldier would die protecting someone else's." Kaira said, getting heated as Chester had a guy cock his gun on them.</p><p>"Yeah, come on." Eliot taunted.</p><p>Hardison told them to wait. "I never did get that cigarette." Hardison said.</p><p>"Kill them." Chester ordered.</p><p>"You know what? I think I did see your cigarette." Kaira said, not caring about the guns pointed at her.</p><p>"Do you?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"I think I saw it right over there." Eliot said, pointing to the propane tanks, which had a lit cigarette on the valve.</p><p>The tank exploded, sending everyone backwards.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker switched out Whitmand's briefcase at the bank.</p><p>Nate watched him leave in his Hummer. "Whitman's gone." Nate reported.</p><p>Eliot, Kaira, and Parker were recovering from the explosion, grunting as they sat up. "Babe? Hardison? You okay?" Kaira asked, grunting as she got up.</p><p>"Yeah." Eliot said.</p><p>They helped each other up as they looked at the chaos that was in front of them.</p><p>Hardison laughed, and put his hand up. "High five. For morale." Hardison said, high fiving with Eliot and Kaira.</p><p>Just then, the yellow Hummer was seen pulling up. Eliot told them to go as they hid behind a log.</p><p>Just then, the militia guys came too, with Whitman pissed.</p><p>Just then, Nate came behind them, almost getting punched by Kaira. "Sorry." Kaira said, glad to see Nate.</p><p>"Listen, next time I steal you a train, get on it." Nate said.</p><p>"Look, man, you're not gonna rain on my parade today, Nate. I made a bomb out of a menthol light." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira remembered Hardison asking for the cigarette, and pocketing it and the match.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira smiled, realizing how impressive it was.</p><p>"You got a radio?" Nate asked.</p><p>Eliot handed him the radio he took from the guy. "What frequency are they on?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Seven seven two." Eliot said.</p><p>Nate adjusted the settings. "All units move in. We have a GPS location of the camp. ATF airborne is incoming." Nate said. stirring the pot. "Be advised, be advised. We have a cooperating witness on the site. Apprehend, but do not injure High Whitman." Nate said.</p><p>Let's just say Chester was not happy. Then the money Whitman had was revealed to actually be documents.</p><p>Earlier, Parker drove them to the bank, going at 140, and Sophie was not happy. When Whitman was fumbling with his keys, Parker switched his briefcase.</p><p>Chester pointed a gun at Whitman, saying they were gonna go to the bank to get the money. So, they did.</p><p>They all moved away to leave. "Hey, you know, I'm starting to enjoy the outdoors." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot noticed Nate wasn't doing much to stop them.</p><p>"Hey, are you seriously gonna let them get away with this?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Eliot, I stole you a train. Have a little faith." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira smiled.</p><p>That was when Sophie and Parker intercepted Chester and Whitman in the bank, acting as FBI with the real FBI at the bank.</p><p>Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison watched as the militiamen were all arrested, staring down Chester.</p><p>Sophie and Parker walked out of the bank.</p><p>They drove back to the bar, and Eliot and Kaira were getting a shower, seeing as they were dirty.</p><p>Hardison was at his apartment, cleaning himself up.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were in together, kissing as the warm water fell around them, washing the dirt and soot on their faces. Kaira chuckled. "Well. We did survive." Kaira said, flirting slightly as she smiled.</p><p>"Yes we did." Eliot said, not getting the idea.</p><p>"So, wanna order pizza and move some furniture around?" Kaira asked, teasing Eliot.</p><p>"Hell yeah." Eliot said. Eliot quickly turned the water off and grabbed Kaira's head, pulling it towards him as they danced out of the shower. They let go to grab towels and dry off. They exited the bathroom, and grabbed each other again, grabbing their heads and pulling their lips together, their fingers running through their damp hair.</p><p>Just then Hardison's voice came through the door. "Eliot, I got something to show you!" Hardison called out.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira chuckled, knowing while the time was very pleasant, they had to cut it short.</p><p>"In a second." Eliot called out.</p><p>"What are you even doing in there?" Hardison asked, hearing the past few minutes of the couples make out session.</p><p>"Moving furniture around." Kaira called out, giggling, knowing Hardison got the idea.</p><p>"Come on, man!" Hardison yelled out, causing Kaira to burst out laughing as the couple went to get changed into clean clothes, throwing each others outfits to the other, giggling at Hardison's outburst of discomfort.</p><p>Nate, Sophie, and Parker gave the money back to the client and offered her the part-time job of finding the other names on the list of people who had their money stolen from Whitman.</p><p>Kaira walked into the living room of Nate's apartment with the pizza she had ordered when Eliot left. She set the box down on the table behind them, as the boys were indeed fishing, virtually, using fake reels with sensors attached. Kaira smiled, knowing it wasn't the same, which Eliot pointed out.</p><p>"You're right. It's better." Hardison said, happy.</p><p>Kaira watched her boys play, and they just ate pizza and fished, at least until Eliot got annoyed and quit. Kaira and Eliot moved some more furniture around that night, glad that they both made it out of this one, and not taking another moment for granted.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it! Now it is time for the chapterly Leverage edit: </p><p>https://youtu.be/nBegMK62IZ8</p><p>So I chose this video for today as I think this song has the energy of the team, and it's just funny as hell.</p><p>This chapter was so fun to write! So, we are closer to Christmas, and I'm and really trying to grind out chapters to get to the Christmas episode before Christmas, so bare with me as I try my best. Thank you for all the love so far! I really mean it. And I may have lied when I said that the series I am planning is still being  planned. Kinda. I have a general idea, and since you've shown me a lot of love, I'll share it with you. So, the general idea of the story is that five thieves unknowingly take on the same job and it goes wrong. A few months later, the group of thieves all get arrested by the same FBI agent, who offers them all a job to steal Relics, or items that have powers, from the rich and powerful people who knowingly or unknowingly have them. Each thief has their own skillset, which benefit each other. There's romance, action, adventure, and crazy cons. Yes, I took inspiration from Leverage, as well as Warehouse 13, Scorpion, and possibly The Librarians. It should be a good series, though I'm not focusing on it until not only I get my new laptop after I finish with not only with Leverage, but with Uncharted 4: The Gunsway Heist (on my Wattpad) as well, so I have less on my plate when I write this series, and come up with the specifics, though possible I will be starting on the Leverage reboot I am doing, but that's not until the reboot even releases. So, with all thar out of the way, thank you so much! Remember to give kudos and share this series! Much love to you all! Stay safe!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. The Boost Job (3x8)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team gets into the world of car thieves when a innocent teacher is arrested for stealing a car, even though it was actually his vehicle. To help him out, the team has to take down a used car dealership owner, who sells boosted cars.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N Hello everyone! I know, it has been a while! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Here is episode 8 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate called the team in after meeting the client. He explained that the client was Paul Mantlo, a teacher who was accused of stealing his truck after crossing state lines with a fishy VIN number, not thinking it could be stolen. Nate explained how it happened. "It's called car cloning. Thieves steal a vehicle, then go to another state, where they find a car of the same make and model and use its VIN number. Then, using those numbers, they register the stolen vehicle in the first state." Nate explained.</p><p>The team was all sitting at the table in front of the screen. "And since each state runs its own VIN database, the hot car comes up clean." Hardison continued explaining.</p><p>"Now. Paul Mantlo - he had the bad luck of wandering from Massachusetts into New Hampshire, where the VIN was copied." Nate explained, pacing to the other side of the screen.</p><p>"And of buying a stolen car." Sophie mentioned.</p><p>"Where'd he get the car?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Duke Penzer - he's a former racecar driver. He parlayed some minor success on the lower circuits to start his own used-car dealership out in Payden, Massachusetts." Hardison said. He pulled up a commercial for the dealership, complete with stereotypical country music and racing references, and cheesy taglines that were in every commercial. "He still runs laps on the weekends. He tries to keep up his image. I checked out some of his prices, and they're sick. I mean, 20, 25 percent below blue book." Hardison explained, pulling up the prices.</p><p>"Yeah, well you can afford to do that when your cars are stolen." Kaira said, not liking Penzers set up.</p><p>"How's he getting the cars? He's not nicking them himself." Sophie mentioned, bringing up a good point.</p><p>"That's a good question. I haven't found-" Hardison said when Parker interrupted.</p><p>"Well, he's the distributor. The suppliers are probably a car theft ring. That way, cops trace a hot car to him, he can say he got it from someone who's long gone. Besides, the scam falls between state jurisdictions, so..." Parker started explaining as the team looked at her, wondering how she knew that. "I was a car thief. That's how I know." Parker revealed.</p><p>It was silent for a moment when Nate spoke up. "All right. So, Penzer is a big fish in a small pond. We need to muddy up the waters. Hardison, you get us a base?" Nate said, readying a plan.</p><p>"Yeah. Art's Auto Sales. It's a little mom and pop shop down the road from Penzers. It's run by Art and Joy Bauer. They've been in the community for decades, but Penzer's running them out of business. They're on the verge of bankruptcy." Hardison explained.</p><p>Nate got an idea. "It gets awfully wet this time of year in Payden, doesn't it?" Nate turned to Sophie.</p><p>Sophie shivered. "And chilly." Sophie said, getting the idea.</p><p>"Yeah, don't you think the Bauers need a little sun and fun?" Nate asked, looking at Sophie.</p><p>"Little R&amp;R?" Sophie asked. Nate and Sophie liked the idea.</p><p>So, the team got ready to clear out the Bauers to take over the shop for the length of the con. Sophie introduced herself as someone from the American Auto Dealers Association and gave them a lifetime achievement award, and gave them a trip to Hawaii for ten days, giving the team time to not only do the con, but for things to cool down after. Hardison got the reservation ready, and Nate signaled the start of the job.</p><p>The next day, they were down at the racetrack in Payden, where Hardison had discovered Penzer liked to race. Hardison faked Nate's time, making it seem he was faster as he raced around the corner in Eliot's orange Camaro.</p><p>He got out of the vehicle, excited needless to say. "Hey, there, Junior. Ahh! What's with the jammies?" Nate said, cocky as he took off his helmet.</p><p>"What do you got in that thing - a supercharger?" Penzer asked Nate, impressed, walking towards him.</p><p>"Oh, hell, I don't know. My guys just picked this up somewhere. I just figured I'd kick the tires." Nate said before noticing Penzers car, Veronica, and Sophie walking up to it, wearing black leather. "What's that - a matchbox car? What do you think, Darlin?" Nate said.</p><p>Sophie leaned against Penzers car. "I think I want to go now." Sophie said, kinda whiney.</p><p>"Go? W-We just got here. I'm asking you if you think I should buy these wheels." Nate said, walking to the other side of the car Sophie was on, Penzer behind.</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Veronica's not for sale." Penzer said.</p><p>"Veronica? So Betty was the fast one, who knew?" Nate said, coming to the other side by Sophie.</p><p>"Look, Mister, uh..." Penzer said, not knowing Nate's name.</p><p>"Lucas. A.J Lucas." Nate said.</p><p>"Well, I don't know who you think you are -" Penzer said, about to threaten Nate.</p><p>"Well, I'll tell you what - I think I'm the guy that broke your track record if I'm not mistaken." Nate said, cocky.</p><p>"One good time trial don't make you a racer." Penzer said, not liking Nate's attitude.</p><p>"Let's do it, kid. Let's - let's mix it up. Let's go - you and me, right now. But I'll tell you what. We're gonna do it old school, all right? I win, I get your car. You win, you get my car. Plus, um..." Nate clicked his tongue, looking at Sophie. "Other considerations." Nate said as Sophie had her hands on her hips. "I doubt you could handle either." Nate said.</p><p>"Green flag - 15." Penzer said. He one-handed pushed Nate out of the way and left.</p><p>Nate took the car back to the pits, having the gang look the car over again, making sure it was fast enough to beat Penzer. Parker had the hood up, and Eliot was underneath, changing something. (My brothers the car person, not me).</p><p>They finished up. "All right, I changed the compression on the pistons and opened up the valves." Parker said, wiping her hands and putting the hood down. "Should get about another 7.5 H.P." Parker said.</p><p>Nate leaned up against the car. "I think the left bank is running a little lean." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot sat up, finished his thing at the back of the car. "I tweaked that. Head looks good on the flux." Eliot said as Kaira helped him up, liking the grease monkey version of Eliot. "You'll get a better burn on your fuel." Eliot said, cleaning up.</p><p>"How's, uh, the rest of your research coming?" Nate whispered to Parker, though everyone could hear him on comms.</p><p>"Good. I found out a bunch of the local thieves work for a guy named Lefty." Parker said, Nate getting his gloves off.</p><p>"You know how to find him?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Got some ideas." Parker said.</p><p>"Okay, well, when we're done here, that'll be your priority - infiltrate their gang." Nate said, getting Parkers job squared away. "Hardison?" Nate turned to Hardison, who was on the other side of the car and came beside Eliot and Kaira.</p><p>"All right. Now, look, man, I just installed this. You punch it to release an oxidized chemical into the engine. It's my own little mix. It's kind of like nitrous but three times the kick." Hardison said.</p><p>"Yeah. It's gonna turn your manifold into pudding, so don't use it too soon." Eliot warned.</p><p>Nate acknowledged what Eliot said, not saying anything.</p><p>"Hey, man, I'm serious. Don't mess my car up." Eliot warned again.</p><p>"Yeah, I really don't want to have to deal with his ass if you ruin his car, Nathan. Plus I will kick your ass because I like this car. Many memories and late-night picnics on the hood of that car, plus other things." Kaira said, warning Nate. Kaira smiled at Eliot, the couple knowing what the other was thinking about.</p><p>Nate missed the subtext. Hardison and Parker just ignored the couple, as this was a usual thing that happened.</p><p>"You know, we still got to find a way to slow down Penzer." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison pulled out his EMP cannon. "I got you covered - EMP cannon. It emits a focused electromagnetic pulse that'll knock out all the electronics in his car for 30 minutes." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot was fiddling with the RC remote as Kaira cleaned up the tools. Eliot drove the RC car out and Hardison zapped it, stopping the RC.</p><p>"This chick is toast. Uh, I installed one next to your rear exhaust. It's the only place I could put it where it wouldn't affect your car as well." Hardison said.</p><p>Nate held his hand out. "All right, you show me how to trigger it." Nate said, thinking he had to trigger the cannon.</p><p>"You don't. I do. I'll hit him from right here. All I need you to do is get in front of Penzer, line up so I can get a clear shot. He'll just think he stalled. 30 minutes, his car is good as new." Hardison explained.</p><p>"All right. Let's do this." Nate said, excited as he went to get in the car.</p><p>The team went under the canopy they pitched and Nate got in the car.</p><p>"You didn't get that, man? This chick is toast?" Hardison asked Eliot.</p><p>"It's - It's Ghostbusters." Hardison said, surprised Eliot didn't know.</p><p>"Man, I don't listen to you." Eliot said, getting ready to push the car.</p><p>"Come on, man. Don't - Don't cross the streams? It's classic." Hardison said.</p><p>"Push the car, man." Eliot said as the group pushed the car with Nate putting it in neutral.</p><p>Nate got the car lined up at the starting line and got the green flag, and Nate and Penzer were off. They were tied for a while, with some trash talking from Nate. Penzer went ahead, and Nate was trying to get ahead.</p><p>Hardison was watching. "Nate, you got to get in front of him, man." Hardison said, looking at his laptop.</p><p>"I know that, Hardison! I'm trying!" Nate yelled.</p><p>Just then, Nate activated the mix and sped ahead, laughing.</p><p>Hardison triggered the EMP cannon and Nate drove ahead.</p><p>Nate and Penzer met and trashed talked Penzer as he drove away. "All right. The mark is primed. Hardison, Parker, go find this Lefty. Everyone else, let's go steal us some cars." Nate said.</p><p>After getting the shop ready, Nate, Sophie, Eliot, and Kaira went into position, with Nate taunting Penzer by raffling off his prized car. The place was packed and Eliot and Kaira were in the office as Sophie used her grifter tricks to sell cars as Nate caught both Penzer and his assistant pointing at Sophie, not liking that Nate was taking his customers.</p><p>Nate peeked out the office door, spying the duo. "All right, Sophie. You're up." Nate said to Sophie, before walking up to a guy looking at the really nice car.</p><p>Sophie walked up to him.</p><p>"Before you say anything, I don't need any help. I'm just looking." Mr. Carey said to Sophie, dismissing her.</p><p>"Of course. I'm not gonna bother you. I just - I just have one little question, huh? Atkins or South beach?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"What?" Mr. Carey asked.</p><p>"What diet are you on? Cause I can see your, uh - your belt is cinched too tight and your shirt is a size too big. You've lost what, five, six pounds recently?" Sophie pointed out.</p><p>"Seven, actually." Mr. Carey revealed, not sure what was happening.</p><p>Sophie gasped in excitement. "Seven! Wow! Congratulations. That is quite an achievement." Sophie said, still keeping the energy up.</p><p>"Thank you." Mr. Carey said, liking the nice words.</p><p>Then Sophie sat on the hood of the car. "That requires so much discipline, you know? Ooh. Denying yourself all that sweet food, all those tasty treats-" Sophie flirted, stroking the car.</p><p>Nate, Eliot, and Kaira were in the office, watching this whole thing on the surveillance cameras. "Now, you see her touch the car when she says sweet and tasty? She's making him link those values to the car." Nate explained.</p><p>"Neurolinguistic programming." Eliot realized.</p><p>"Your favorite, hun." Kaira smirked at Eliot, knowing he didn't really like that comment.</p><p>Sophie was still on the hood of the car. "Mnh-mnh. No. I couldn't do it. I couldn't deny myself such pleasure." Sophie said, flirting, causing poor Mr. Carey to gulp, which Kaira kinds found amusing. Sophie walked to the back of the car. "You know, for me, life is about seizing opportunities, you know? Live life to the fullest." Sophie said, sitting back on the hood of the car. "Drink too much wine. Skinny-dip in the ocean. Make love in a hammock." Sophie said, definitely flirting, causing Mr. Carey to sweat and wipe his forehead, exhaling. "Do you know why -Just as an example - why driving this car is like making love to a beautiful woman?" Sophie asked.</p><p>Kaira's eyes went wide from the unexpectedness of what Sophie said, yet Kaira wasn't really surprised. At least in her experience, driving a nice car was indeed like making love. Especially when someone like Eliot was behind the wheel.</p><p>Eliot seemed to notice the smirk on Kaira's face, thinking something along the same lines.</p><p>Mr. Carey seemed to be uncomfortable slightly, yet intrigued. "Because I've never done either before in my life?" Mr. Carey questioned.</p><p>"What? A cute guy like you? Well, now is your chance. Just - just take a look. Who knows where it might lead?" Sophie said, teasing as she walked away.</p><p>"I tell you, if Sophie did this full time, the auto industry's troubles would disappear." Nate said.</p><p>Eliot put on his tie as Kaira got ready to play her role.</p><p>Sophie went back over to Mr. Carey and had him sign a contract for the car.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira were outside, getting ready to enter as Nate walked up to Penzer. "Hey! There - there's the stall-out king himself. How you doing?" Nate said to Penzer.</p><p>"Whatever. I came back here to buy Veronica." Penzer said, not wasting any time.</p><p>"Oh." Nate chuckled. "I'm sorry. I'm not gonna get rid of my trophy." Nate said.</p><p>"I'll give you 150,000 for her." Penzer negotiated.</p><p>"Please. How about 300?" Nate asked.</p><p>"300,000! That's ridiculous! Be reasonable." Penzer argued as Kaira and Eliot were walking up to him, talking in Spanish.</p><p>"Bueno. Claro que si. (Okay. Of course.)" Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira grabbed the phone. "Si. El esta aqui mismo. Un momento! (Yes. He is right here. One moment!)" Kaira said, getting snippy towards the end of the conversation, acting like she was annoyed with the "caller".</p><p>"What is it, skeeters?" Nate asked the couple.</p><p>"Mr. Lucas, I think you should take this call." Eliot said.</p><p>"It's our... foreign friends." Kaira said, acting like only the trio knew who they were talking about.</p><p>Nate motioned to give the phone to him and Kaira tossed it and Nate caught it. He answered it.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira left to get ready for the next part as Sophie walked up to Nate. "A.J. I need you to sign off on this paperwork." Sophie said.</p><p>"Not now, hon. I'm busy." Nate said, brushing Sophie off.</p><p>"No, no, no. The customer's ready to write the check." Sophie said, getting annoyed with Nate.</p><p>"Now, did I hire you to look pretty or ask stupid questions?" Nate asked, slapping Sophie's ass and she showed she didn't like that as Nate was still on the phone as Sophie left.</p><p>Penzer left soon after.</p><p>Nate put the phone away and Sophie walked back over. "I could've done without the ass slap." Sophie said, not happy.</p><p>"Yeah, just trying to sell the bit. Sorry." Nate said as Sophie walked away. "Hardison, Parker, ball's in your court." Nate said, signaling for Parker and Hardison to start their part of the con.</p><p>Parker and Hardison drove to a local chop shop in the car the Parker stole. "So, you stole this car?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Yep." Parker revealed.</p><p>Hardison chuckled. "Exactly how is this gonna get us Lefty's attention?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Well, car thieves are territorial, all right? You bring a car like this to a local chop shop, every boost in town knows there's a new player. Also... this is Lefty's car." Parker said, stopping the car and getting out.</p><p>Hardison got out after her. The duo noticed a guy working on a car engine, listening to music. "Yo, my man." Hardison said.</p><p>The guy ignored him.</p><p>"Hey!" Parker yelled, getting his attention. "Heard you're the man to see about chopping a car." Parker said.</p><p>"Maybe." The guy said. He noticed the car that was behind Parker and Hardison. "You jacked this car? This car?" The guy questioned, worried.</p><p>"Yeah. How much?" Parker questioned.</p><p>"Give me a minute." The guy said before leaving, anxious about something.</p><p>"Hello, Lefty. Okay. Shouldn't be long now." Parker said, moving to the car. She motioned for Hardison to hand her tools.</p><p>"So... car thief - how'd that happen?" Hardison asked Parker as she was messing with the tools.</p><p>"Started when I was about 12. Met this kid - Kelly - in the foster system. He was about four or five years older. Taught me how to make a slim jim, how to use a jiggler key, you know." Parker said.</p><p>"What happened to Kelly?" Hardison asked.</p><p>Parkers expression turned to one of sadness, remembering the bad memory. "We boosted a bait car. He saw the cops coming and ran. I never saw it coming." Parker revealed sadness in her voice.</p><p>"He left you behind?" Hardison questioned, feeling bad for the poor girl.</p><p>"Never looked back. Spent six months in juvie and never saw Kelly again." Parker said. She noticed Lefty coming out of the shop. "All right. Here we go." Parker said, composing herself.</p><p>"So, how is this going down?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Okay, they're gonna want us off their turf. We're gonna have to convince them they need us. It's not gonna be easy, and they might shoot you a little." Parker said. She left to approach Lefty as Hardison prepared himself, hiding his fear as he followed behind.</p><p>Back at the dealership, Sophie walked outside and was greeted by Penzer, leaning against a car, taking off his sunglasses.</p><p>"You are spectacular." Penzer complimented Sophie.</p><p>"I beg your pardon." Sophie said in her American accent.</p><p>"As a salesman. 20 years in this business, I've never seen a better closer, Miss..." Penzer complimented again.</p><p>"Bacich. Katie Bacich. Thank you, Mr. Penzer." Sophie said, taking the compliment.</p><p>"Please, call me Duke. Yes. Spectacular." Penzer said, looking Sophie up and down, taking in her figure.</p><p>Sophie scoffed as she walked towards him. "Why don't you let me buy you a drink? I know the best spot in town." Penzer said, putting on the charm.</p><p>"Mr. Penzer-" Sophie said, ready to turn him down.</p><p>"Duke." Penzer corrected Sophie.</p><p>"Duke, do me a favor, huh? Don't sell a salesman. I know when I'm being set up for a pitch." Sophie said, turning him down.</p><p>"Maybe so. But don't you want to know what I'm selling?" Penzer asked.</p><p>Sophie took him up on the offer.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker and Hardison walked up to Lefty, meeting up with him and his guys in the middle.</p><p>"You picked the wrong car to boost." Lefty said, getting ready to threaten Parker.</p><p>"No, we didn't... Lefty." Parker said.</p><p>"Who are you?" Lefty asked.</p><p>"I'm Danielle. This is Major." Parker introduced her and Hardison.</p><p>"Sup." Hardison said.</p><p>"We want to join your crew." Parker said.</p><p>"We're full up." Lefty said.</p><p>Parker walked up to Lefty, unintimidated by the man. "You need us." Parker said.</p><p>"We stole your car, didn't we?" Hardison brought up the point.</p><p>"That? Anybody can steal that. But nobody's dumb enough to do it." Lefty said, not impressed.</p><p>"Oh. Well, can anyone steal a car that uses a laser-cut rolling-code transponder key?" Parker asked, piquing Lefty's interest.</p><p>"Impossible. Those systems are unboostable." Lefty said, not believing Parker.</p><p>"We can do it - in under two minutes." Parker said, setting the hook to get her and Hardison on the crew.</p><p>"All right. Show me you can steal an unstealable car. Two minutes, or else." Lefty gave in.</p><p>Parker left and the group drove to a lot to steal the car. Parker picked the lock on the gate and took off the chain.</p><p>"Two minutes. Don't break the window or crack the steering column." Lefty said.</p><p>Parker opened the gate and went in, Hardison behind her and they walked up to the car in question. The duo ducked down, making sure to not be spotted.</p><p>"All right. Do your thing." Hardison said, thinking it was easy.</p><p>"Oh, I have no idea how to break into this car." Parker revealed.</p><p>"W-what?" Hardison questioned, wondering how they were gonna do this.</p><p>"It's new tech. Screwdriver and a coat hanger ain't gonna cut it. I mean, once we get in, I could probably start it, but we got to get in." Parker said.</p><p>"And what, we get - h-how are we gonna get in, Parker? Mnh-mnh. No. Mnh-mnh. Me? Mnh-mnh, no."Hardison objected, not liking the situation.</p><p>"You can hack anything with a battery, right? You now have one minute and 30 seconds." Parker said.</p><p>Hardison started to panic, looking at his phone.</p><p>"Look, you can do this." Parker said. They ducked back down again.</p><p>Hardison started breathing heavily, thinking. "Okay. What's the hardware behind this door?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"The latch mechanism is connected to an actuator. Send an electrical signal to the actuator, door unlocks." Parker said.</p><p>"So the chip controls the electrical signal." Hardison realized.</p><p>"Yeah. That's what we need the remote code for." Parker said.</p><p>"Okay. I can send an RF signal but you said rolling code, so that means billions of combinations." Hardison said. He looked back at the group of people behind them at the gate, nervous that he couldn't do the job.</p><p>Parker brought him into focus again. "Hardison, just ignore the distractions. Work the problem. It's the first rule of the boost." Parker said, giving Hardison the confidence needed to do the job.</p><p>Hardison got out his phone and started hacking into the car. "All right, look, I can't crack the code, but I may be able to confuse the receiver." Hardison said, doing his thing.</p><p>Soon, there was beeping, which was not the doors. "I got it!" Hardison said, accidentally opening the trunk. With some encouragement from Parker, Hardison got the doors unlocked and he got in the passenger side as Parker got in the driver's seat. "All right. 15 seconds." Hardison said, telling Parker to hurry up.</p><p>"Okay, transponder equipped cars have backdoor start-up sequences - an override." Parker explained, trying to remember the sequence.</p><p>"So it's like a cheat code for a video game, so it should work." Hardison said.</p><p>"Assuming they haven't changed the sequence since I last did this." Parker said, doing the sequence.</p><p>The car started, and Parker and Hardison smiled in relief.</p><p>"I forgot how much fun this is." Parker said, glad they got the job done.</p><p>Lefty and his crew walked up to the duo, impressed. "Not bad. All right. Bring this to my shop, and we'll talk. Shorty! Keep an eye on them." Lefty ordered.</p><p>A short young Asian woman in a white t-shirt walked over and got in the back of the car.</p><p>Hardison and Parker looked at each other, knowing they had to wait now to tell Nate they got in the crew.</p><p>Meanwhile, back at Penzer's dealership, Sophie and Penzer were in his office, getting drinks. "So this is the best spot in town, huh?" Sophie questioned, amused a bit.</p><p>"Absolutely." Penzer said. He handed Sophie a glass of alcohol and sat down.</p><p>"This is the winner's circle. Which is why I want you to come to work for me." Penzer said.</p><p>"I've already got a job." Sophie turned him down.</p><p>"I'll double your salary." Penzer offered.</p><p>Sophie took a sip of her drink. "That's very generous, but I'm not looking-" Sophie said before Penzer interrupted her.</p><p>"You know you're a tool to him. Me? I'm looking to build something. And for that, I need a partner." Penzer started explaining.</p><p>"Oh." Sophie muttered, impressed slightly.</p><p>"Once he's gone, I'll let you run that shop. But you got to do something for me. Tell me about his set up. How can he offer those deals?" Penzer offered the deal.</p><p>Sophie acted like she was thinking about it.</p><p>Nate was at HQ, listening in to the conversation. "Okay, now, don't get too specific. Let him fill in the blanks." Nate ordered.</p><p>Sophie got the idea and got to work. "He works with... alternative suppliers." Sophie explained, being vague.</p><p>"What do you mean? Fleet sales?" Penzer questioned.</p><p>"No. Suppliers with... minimal costs." Sophie continued explaining, still being vague.</p><p>Penzer scoffed and chuckled once he figured out what Sophie meant. "He's selling hot cars." Penzer realized.</p><p>"All right. Good. He's figured out the first part of the equation. Eliot, Kaira, give him the rest." Nate ordered.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were out of their nice clothes and dressed more casual. "Yeah, making the call now." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle as Eliot dialed the non-emergency police line. "Hello, officer? Yes ma'am. I'd like to support some unsavory characters wandering around downtown. Yeah, I - They - They had tattoos, and I think they were wearing gang colors, and, uh - and I'm pretty sure they were speaking Spanish. Yeah, I-I saw them walking around by Penzer's Auto. Yes, ma'am. O-okay." Eliot said. He hung up the phone as the couple got on gloves and grabbed the baseball bats and exited the vehicle.</p><p>Kaira smiled at Eliot. "Let's wreck this assholes evening." Kaira said, smiling, probably way too excited as they started hitting some of the cars, causing the alarms to go off.</p><p>Meanwhile, the duo of Parker and Hardison arrived back at the chop shop, with Shorty out of the vehicle already and inside.</p><p>"All right, chop shops are a quick and dirty setup. There's probably gonna be one, maybe two guys in here cutting up their latest catch." Parker explained as they pulled in.</p><p>Once the garage doors shut, the duo realized there was a whole operation happening as they got out of the car. Hardison and Parker looked at each other. "We're gonna need a bigger boat." Hardison said, signaling they needed a different plan.</p><p>Nate got worried, sensing the anxiety in Hardison's voice. "Parker, Hardison, what's going on?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Trying to find out. Stand by." Hardison said.</p><p>The duo saw Shorty scanning the car. "Got to scan for alarm tracking systems. Don't want the cops zeroing in on a radio signal we miss." Shorty said.</p><p>Lefty walked over.</p><p>"It's clean." Shorty informed Lefty.</p><p>He looked at the reader, seeing she was right. Lefty looked at Parker and Hardison. "Follow me." Lefty said.</p><p>Hardison and Parker followed him.</p><p>Meanwhile, the couple of Eliot and Kaira smashed up a couple of cars, setting off the alarms. Penzer and Sophie heard the alarms, and Penzer was not happy. They went outside, seeing the one windshield of a car was broken.</p><p>"What the..." Penzer said.</p><p>"Well, this is terrible. Let me get my phone. I'll call the police." Sophie said, turning back before Penzer stopped her.</p><p>"No! Don't call the police. I don't need a bunch of deputy dawgs snooping around here." Penzer said.</p><p>Sophie acted like she realized why. "What?" Sophie gasped. "You're working the same scam as A.J. You're just like him." Sophie realized.</p><p>Penzer pointed a finger at Sophie. "No. I am nothing like him." Penzer said, going back inside.</p><p>Sophie followed, realizing it worked. Penzer got on the phone and asked for Lefty.</p><p>Back at the chop shop, Lefty was still giving Parker and Hardison the tour, with Shorty following. Some guy called out to Lefty for the phone and Shorty continued the tour.</p><p>Shorty looked over to the guys taking apart a car. "Over here is your traditional chop shop. We can strip a car and get its parts to anywhere in the country in 24 hours." Shorty explained. She turned to another section. "They do VINcloning over here. Clean a hot car and get it a full set of papers in an hour." Shorty explained.</p><p>"What's that over there?" Hardison asked, looking at a bunch of guys on computers.</p><p>"You know how everyone keeps their registration and insurance in the glove box? Well, we take those and use them for identity theft." Shorty explained. She looked at Parker, impressed and amazed at the same time. "Girls don't boost cars. At least that's what these guys keep telling me. But you - you kicked ass." Shorty complimented Parker, who didn't really know how to react. Shorty turned to Hardison. "That thing you did with your phone? Can you teach me that?" Shorty asked.</p><p>"Yeah. Y-yeah. Uh, let's just go by the computers." Hardison said. He walked Shorty over to the computers and started his thing, giving Parker time to report to Nate.</p><p>"Nate, did you get all that?" Parker asked.</p><p>Nate was still in HQ. "Yes, I did." Nate said, not worried.</p><p>"It's a mall of crime." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"Yes, I know. But the plan does not change." Nate said, letting Parker know the plan was final.</p><p>"Look, why don't we just call the cops, huh? We've got more than enough to bust these guys." Parker said, not liking the scale.</p><p>Nate stood up and paced to the screen. "No, no. These guys are too careful. They'd scatter before the cops got there. Besides, closing down the shop won't nail Penzer. No, we stick to our plan. No, we catch them red-handed planning something big. Sophie, did Penzer put two and two together?" Nate said.</p><p>Sophie turned away as Penzer was on the phone with Lefty. "Doing the math now." Sophie said.</p><p>Penzer found out about the Spanish gang members, realizing the Salvadorans were backing "A.J" and Penzer realizing he could trick the Salvadorians into thinking "A.J" lost one of their shipments. Penzer hung up the phone and turned to Sophie, who looked away, acting like she didn't like the plan. "Your boss did this." Penzer said.</p><p>Sophie tried to object, saying A.J was a jerk, but didn't deserve what was about to happen, but Penzer stopped her.</p><p>"And the question is, do you want to work for someone who does this... or do you want to work for someone who's bringing modern business principles to the game?" Penzer asked Sophie.</p><p>"What are you talking about?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Diversified products, marketing metrics, online opportunities - that is what I am bringing to the table. I'm not talking about stick up men and strung out joyriders. I'm taking this business to the next level." Penzer revealed.</p><p>Sophie thought a moment. "I want to see your operation." Sophie said.</p><p>Penzer seemed cool with the idea. "All right. First thing tomorrow. And all you gotta do is tell me when Lucas' next shipment comes in." Penzer said.</p><p>Sophie paced back, acting like she was thinking, then came back and faced Penzer. "Tomorrow morning at the docks - Nine cars, top end, and very hot." Sophie revealed.</p><p>"Now..." Penzer grabbed Sophie's hand and held it up and kissed the top if her hand. "Let's go finish that drink." Penzer said, escorting Sophie back to the office so they could finish the drink.</p><p>Parker was looking at the engine of the car Shorty tried to lock pick and Hardison was at the computers. Some of the guys behind her made fun of her. Shorty was stabbing the pick in, struggling and getting frustrated.</p><p>Parker noticed this. "Hey, slide. Don't stab." Parker said. She walked over and went behind Shorty. "Feel it catch on the lock rod." Parker told Shorty.</p><p>Shorty tried, but was distracted by the guys laughing at her.</p><p>"Forget them. Just tune out the distractions. Work the problem." Parker said. She put her hands on Shorty's ears to block the noise, allowing for Shorty to concentrate and pick the lock. She exhaled as Parker removed her hands.</p><p>Parker looked back at the car. "This model has a weakness." Parker said, going to the front of the car. "Here. Short out the posts on the solenoid." Parker said, handing Shorty a screwdriver, doing what Parker said. The car started up and Shorty was amazed.</p><p>"Wow. Thanks." Shorty said.</p><p>Parker looked at the guys behind them. "Ignore those idiots, okay? They've been sucking exhaust fumes for far too long." Parker said, trying to cheer Shorty up.</p><p>"They're not so bad. They just don't want me screwing up on a real boost." Shorty said.</p><p>"Uh-huh." Parker said, putting her things away, not buying it.</p><p>"Yeah, I don't know where I'd go if they didn't let me hang out with them." Shorty said.</p><p>Parker saw herself in the young girl. Wanting someone to be with and wanting to be better.</p><p>"Hey, uh... Josie. Josie Marvin." Josie, also known as Shorty, introduced herself.</p><p>Parker gave a hint of a smile.</p><p>Just then, Lefty came out and told everyone to listen. He told everyone about the nine-car order down at the docks that Sophie leaked to Penzer, who told Lefty.</p><p>"Nate, the hook is set." Hardison informed Nate, who was still at HQ.</p><p>"All right. Go and get me some bait." Nate ordered.</p><p>Parker and Hardison stole nine nice cars at a golf course and brought them to the truck that Eliot and Kaira brought over and loaded them up. Once they got all nine cars as ordered, Eliot got in the driver's seats and Kaira got in the passenger side as he drove to the hiding spot.</p><p>Parker wanted Josie out of the way when it all went down, so she went back to the chop shop and warned Josie to not go on the boost tomorrow. Of course, Josie asked Parker if she was a cop, which Parker said she wasn't. Josie was confused and torn, as this was most likely the first time she was allowed on a boost. She also left Josie with another piece of advice. "These guys don't care about you. They're not your family." Parker said, knowing she hurt Josie by saying that. Parker left the chop shop.</p><p>The next morning, they met up at HQ to get a plan ready. Eliot and Kaira had gotten ready to get the cars ready.</p><p>Nate had everyone else gathered at the table. "All right, Lefty should be hitting the shipment in about an hour -" Nate said when Parker interrupted.</p><p>"Hour and a half. He called to push back our time." Parker revealed.</p><p>"Hmm. All right. Well, that'll give Eliot and Kaira more time to offload the cars. It'll also give you more time to bring Penzer down to Lefty's." Nate said, looking at Sophie.</p><p>"And once he's there, we call the cops." Sophie said, making sure the plan was sound.</p><p>"And we catch Penzer, Lefty, and the crew with the stolen cars, all in the same place." Hardison said.</p><p>"By which point, we'll have already done the blow-off. Let's go." Nate said.</p><p>The group left.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira drove the cars over to the docks, where they were just gonna leave the cars and go, but when they pulled into the warehouse, something was off. Eliot turned off the truck and saw six guys came out and guns drawn.</p><p>"Get out of the truck." Lefty ordered.</p><p>Eliot got out and Kaira did too, her hands up as she came around, getting pushed to where Eliot was.</p><p>"Back away from the cars. Don't want to damage the merchandise." Lefty ordered as Eliot shut the door to the truck. Lefty extended his hand. "Toss us the keys." Lefty ordered.</p><p>Eliot scoffed and grabbed them from his back pocket. He showed them to the guys. Kaira discretely nodded, telling Eliot she knew what he was doing.</p><p>"You want 'em?" Eliot questioned.</p><p>He tossed the keys up in the air and punched the guys beside him and got him down and ran like hell with Kaira in tow and got behind the cars as guns were fired. Once they heard the gunshots stop, Eliot and Kaira ran back and saw the guys chasing them and they ran out from behind the cars and onto the front. Eliot pulled Kaira behind a orange storage container and the couple thought of their next move. More gunshots rang out, signaling the guys were coming closer as sparks flew from where the bullets struck the metal, creating a loud ting. Eliot signaled Kaira to run and the couple ran behind the crates, making sure to not get shot when Eliot ran out and got hit with a car, tumbling over the hood of the car, sending him into the water below. Kaira dove in after him, and held her breath as she hit the water. She grabbed Eliot and they held their breath and swam to find a ladder or something to get back up.</p><p>Meanwhile Sophie watched as Penzer was on the phone, talking about the shipment.</p><p>He hung up the phone and looked at Sophie. "So, I'm anxious to see this operation of yours." Sophie said, getting on track.</p><p>"Oh, of course." Penzer said.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker and Hardison arrived at the dock, noticing immediately it was empty, sending up a red flag.</p><p>Hardison came around and told Parker to wait. "Where is everybody?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Cars aren't even here." Parker pointed out as they walked to the warehouse.</p><p>"Eliot? Kaira? Where are you? You better not be making out or something." Hardison said, getting worried with the silence on comms.</p><p>They took a couple more steps and stopped. "Something's not right." Parker observed, not being able to shake the feeling she had.</p><p>Soon the guys from the shop revealed themselves. "Go!" Parker yelled, running behind the car with Hardison in tow.</p><p>"Nate, we're blown!" Hardison yelled, getting into cover beside Parker behind logs.</p><p>"What?" Nate asked, perking up from the desk in his office. "All right, Parker, Hardison, hold tight. Eliot? Kaira?" Nate said, hearing static from their comms. "All right, Sophie, you got to get out of there." Nate ordered, Sophie hiding her anxiousness.</p><p>"Um, excuse me. I just have to use the ladies room." Sophie said, standing up. She stumbled some when Penzer pulled out a gun.</p><p>"Sit down." Penzer ordered.</p><p>Sophie sat down.</p><p>"Sophie, I'm on my way. Parker, Hardison, I need your help." Nate said, getting up to get Sophie.</p><p>"We need some help, they're shooting, dammit!" Hardison said, not happy with the scenario.</p><p>Hardison timed it and he and Parker moved.</p><p>Penzer got another phone call and had to leave. He told Sophie to stay.</p><p>Hardison and Parker went behind the car they drove in as the bullets still fired. The guys came around and pointed the guns at Parker and Hardison, causing the duo to stand up and put their hands up and move.</p><p>Sophie got up from her seat and went to the door. Nate opened it and Sophie said Nate's name, not knowing Penzer was behind him, until he revealed himself.</p><p>"Nate, is it? Let's go." Penzer said, cocking the gun and pushing it up against Nate's back as Nate exhaled, knowing he failed. "Now, I don't know who you people are, and I don't care. I've spent my whole life beatin piss ants like you. Sit down." Penzer ordered, going behind his desk.</p><p>Nate and Sophie sat down.</p><p>"Now we're all just gonna sit here and wait for my associate. Cause he's - he's much better at the, uh, mechanical stuff." Penzer said, waving the gun.</p><p>"Great rescue." Sophie whispered.</p><p>Parker and Hardison were moved to in front of the guns, who had their back against the warehouse. Hardison and Parker started smiling, spotting two of their favorite faces.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira appeared behind the goons, soaking wet.</p><p>"What's so funny?" One of the trio holding the gun asked.</p><p>On cue, Eliot tapped the center goon on the shoulder, and Kaira got the goon on the right. They both clocked their goons, and Hardison went after the goon on his left. Kaira and Eliot easily disarmed and knocked out the goons, using their elbows to hit them in the face, and kicking them. Kaira blocked a knife swing and disarmed it as Parker got in on the action, knocking all the goons down.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira went up beside Parker.</p><p>"Nate and Sophie." Parker realized, knowing they had to get back.</p><p>"There's gotta be a car around here somewhere." Eliot said, huffing.</p><p>Just then another car rolled up, and it was Josie. Josie got out of the car. "Get in!" She ordered. Hardison called shotgun as Parker got in the driver's seat and Josie, Eliot, and Kaira got in the back. Kaira was in the middle, with Eliot on her right and Josie on her left.</p><p>"Nate, we're on our way. Be there in 10." Hardison said as Parker raced off.</p><p>Meanwhile, at Penzer's dealership, Penzer was pacing, waiting for Lefty to show.</p><p>He did. "Cars are here. Shop's closed up. Kip and the boys are mopping up the dock." Lefty reported.</p><p>"Great. Take these two with you, quietly. Don't want a lot of attention with all the hot cars on the lot." Penzer said as Lefty pulled out his gun.</p><p>"Don't worry, we scanned 'em, there's no coming out of them." Lefty informed Penzer.</p><p>He told Nate and Sophie to get up, so they did.</p><p>They went outside.</p><p>Parker was driving fast to get to Nate and Sophie. "You know, I was trying to help you. You weren't supposed to tell them." Parker said, upset.</p><p>"I didn't know that. And I didn't think they'd try to kill you." Josie said.</p><p>"What did you think would happen?" Kaira asked, kinda amused and upset at the innocence of this girl.</p><p>"Wait, hold up, you told her!?" Hardison questioned, upset.</p><p>"I should've known. You're a menace, Parker." Eliot said, not happy.</p><p>"What, she deserves a chance!" Parker said, defending her actions. And frankly, Kaira didn't blame her.</p><p>"Ooh, Nate's gonna kill you." Hardison said, knowing shit was gonna hit the fan if it hadn't already.</p><p>"I'm gonna kill you!" Eliot exclaimed, not happy Parker blew their cover.</p><p>"Oh, stop whining!" Parker yelled, taking a sharp turn, pushing everyone in the back against each other.</p><p>"I got hit by a car!" Eliot yelled.</p><p>"I did too!" Kaira yelled, groaning.</p><p>"I got hit by a car! Get over it!" Parker yelled, mocking Eliot.</p><p>"I'm gonna kill her, man. I'm gonna kill her." Eliot threatened.</p><p>Hardison put his hands up. "Hey, hey, hey. Nobody's gonna kill anybody. Seriously, though, Nate's gonna kill you." Hardison said.</p><p>"Wait, wait, wait! Who are you people?" Josie asked.</p><p>"One - we're thieves, but good ones. Parker, only I get away with telling Eliot to stop whining. Two - Eliot, knock it off, Parker just wanted to help her. Three - Parker, it isn't your fault or hers. You both didn't know. Now, all of you shut up so we can get Nate and Sophie." Kaira said, annoyed at all the bitching that was happening as Parker took another sharp turn.</p><p>Nate and Sophie walked outside the dealership. "Stall." Nate whispered, knowing the rest of the team was close.</p><p>Sophie looked at Nate, wondering if Nate was serious.</p><p>"Stall!" Nate repeated.</p><p>Sophie immediately kneed Nate's family jewels, causing him to groan in pain. "You are such an idiot! I can't believe I ever listened to you!" Sophie exclaimed as Nate was bent over in pain.</p><p>Nate got the idea and they started arguing, buying time.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker took another turn hard, sending Eliot into the door. "Parker, where did you learn to drive?" Eliot asked, annoyed.</p><p>"Before I stole cars, I was a getaway driver." Parker revealed.</p><p>"Before? You started stealing cars when you were twelve." Hardison pointed out, wondering how the hell the math worked.</p><p>Parker wailed on the horn. "Get out of the way ya old bat!" Parker yelled, getting frustrated.</p><p>Hardison was scared of Parker's driving.</p><p>Nate and Sophie still argued, buying time until the car alarms went off and Penzer told Lefty to take them to the office. Sirens were heard as Nate and Sophie were escorted to the office.</p><p>See, before Eliot and Kaira drove the cars into the warehouse before everything went to hell, Eliot blasted the cars with Hardison's EMP cannon, shutting the alarms off for the half-hour needed to get them to the shop, sending the cops right to the shop.</p><p>The group arrived, and Eliot burst out, telling everyone to slide over as Kaira joined him to get Nate and Sophie out, hearing they were back in the office. Eliot took Lefty out and Kaira got Nate and Sophie out and piled into the car, Kaira on Eliot's lap to squeeze everyone in as they went back to Art's and Kaira helped clean Eliot up from his cuts.</p><p>Josie asked Parker about the fast response time of the cops.</p><p>See, the cars Parker and Hardison stole were from a golf tournament for cops.</p><p>Eliot walked over to Hardison, Kaira hanging on Eliot.</p><p>"Hey, why didn't you both comm us when those wannabe thugs attacked?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Cause your little zapper thing fried our earbuds." Eliot revealed.</p><p>"Told you to take them out before you used it." Hardison said.</p><p>"We were also both underwater." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>"Yeah, I should work on that." Hardison said, realizing he never waterproofed the comms.</p><p>"Yeah." Eliot said, putting the towel up to his lip, as he busted his lip open.</p><p>They finished cleaning up and went back to the bar.</p><p>Nate informed Paul that night that he got Penzers car, and offered Josie to help with his landscaping business.</p><p>They all sat down around the table, eating the food at the table.</p><p>"Hey, you saw me take down that guy." Hardison said to Parker, wanting backup.</p><p>"The little guy?" Parker questioned.</p><p>"He wasn't little. He's... pretty sure he had big shoulders." Hardison tried to argue.</p><p>"Hey, I wanna say thank you. Thank you, by the way." Nate said to Eliot as Parker made a comment.</p><p>"What?" Eliot asked, not sure what Nate meant.</p><p>"For the car." Nate said. "Oh, man, anytime you want to borrow it, it's yours, man. It's fast." Eliot said, not thinking it was a big deal as Kaira smiled.</p><p>"No, no, no. No, anytime you want to borrow it." Nate said, pointed out.</p><p>"No, no." Eliot said, getting defensive as Kaira chuckled.</p><p>"Hardison changed the pink slip." Nate revealed.</p><p>"I don't care if Hardison changed anything." Eliot said.</p><p>Then Eliot and Nate proceed to argue about the ownership of the car.</p><p>"No, Nathan, Eliot let you borrow the car to race Penzer." Kaira argued.</p><p>"Oh, you're taking his side?" Nate asked, sarcastically.</p><p>"Hell yeah. Plus, it's also technically my car, as Eliot's my husband." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>"But the slip." Nate tried to argue as the rest of the team tried not to laugh at father and daughter arguing.</p><p>"I don't give a damn, Eliot bought it. Therefore it is his, and by extension mine" Kaira argued, shutting Nate up.</p><p>Kaira mocked Nate by putting her hand to her ear, acting like she heard something. "Oh, is Nate Ford finally at a loss for words?" Kaira chuckled, joking around.</p><p>"Shush." Nate said, knowing he wasn't winning.</p><p>"Wait, Kaira, have you driven the car?" Sophie asked Kaira.</p><p>Kaira took a sip of her beer. "Yeah. I drove it before on a date." Kaira said, smiling. Hardison and Nate both got shit-eating grins after seeing Eliot's smile.</p><p>"Oh, you didn't." Hardison said, realizing the subtext.</p><p>Nate dropped the grin as Kaira and Eliot chuckled at their discomfort as Parker didn't get the memo.</p><p>"Best make out car ever." Kaira said, smirking and taking a sip of her beer.</p><p>The team just talked and drank the rest of the evening until they were full.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira went back to their apartment. Kaira sat on the bed in her PJs, waiting for Eliot to come to bed.</p><p>All of a sudden, Eliot came into the bedroom and grabbed Kaira. "I got a surprise for you. Come on!" Eliot said, excited.</p><p>Kaira giggled as she grabbed one of Eliot's hoodies on the coat rack and got into the orange car.</p><p>Eliot drove to the same spot he always drove when they went on a car date. Eliot pulled up on a hill and parked the car and turned down the radio. Kaira smiled as she knew what it was Eliot was doing.</p><p>"This is a date." Kaira realized, smiling.</p><p>"Yep. Only the best for my girl." Eliot smiled as he got out of the car.</p><p>He pulled a picnic basket and a blanket out of the back and opened the door for Kaira. She smiled as they sat on the hood of the car.</p><p>Eliot pulled out sandwiches from the basket and handed one to Kaira. They smiled as they ate, only listening to the rumble of the idling car and the crickets singing their night song.</p><p>After they finished, Eliot handed Kaira a water bottle and she took a sip. Kaira shivered from the Massachusetts cold night. Eliot caught her and took off his jacket and handed it to Kaira.</p><p>She smiled as she put it on. "Always the gentleman." Kaira quipped, smiling at her husband.</p><p>Eliot smiled back. "Well, I am a southern gentleman." Eliot quipped back. He planted a kiss on Kaira's lips as he left and put the basket back in the car. He sat back down and Kaira cuddled up to him, using their body heat to warm each other up and listening to their thumping hearts. Eliot kissed Kaira's forehead and she smiled, content with the moment.</p><p>The couple sat like that for a long time. Eventually, they both got cold and went back in the car to get warm, chuckling at each other as Eliot turned on the heat. He put on a cd and held Kaira's hand. The cd was one of Kaira's favorite. <em>Fast Car</em> by Tracy Chapman played, and Kaira chuckled.</p><p>/aAKvatGliJc</p><p>Kaira chuckled at the irony of the song.</p><p>Eliot grabbed Kaira's hand and kissed it, warming it up. Eliot was singing along, causing Kaira to smile.</p><p>Kaira sang along a bit.</p><p>The couple stayed like that, inching closer and closer to each other throughout the song and swayed to the music.</p><p>During the last chorus, the couple couldn't ignore the tension that was between them.</p><p>Eliot moved his seat back and Kaira climbed on top and locked lips, both their hands through each other's hair.</p><p>Once the song was over, the silence was comforting.</p><p>Kaira held Eliot's head and Eliot's hands were on Kaira's waist.</p><p>Eliot just looked at Kaira, admiring her beauty.</p><p>Kaira became a bit shy, as all she was in were plaid pants and a hoodie and Eliot's jacket on.</p><p>Eliot placed his hand softly on Kaira's cheek. "You are the most beautiful girl in the world, Kaira Spencer." Eliot said softly, entranced almost.</p><p>Kaira smiled. "I feel like the only girl in the world when I'm with you." Kaira whispered softly.</p><p>They locked lips again, this time softer and gentler. They stayed like that until the sun barely came over the horizon.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira looked out. "That is the most beautiful thing in the world. Damn." Eliot said, looking at both the sunrise and Kaira, causing Kaira to chuckle again.</p><p>"Yes it is." Kaira said, looking at the sunrise and Eliot.</p><p>Eliot chuckled. "Let's go home, Princess." Eliot said, starting the car up again and reversed and drove back to the bar.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot snuck in, hoping to not catch anyone awake, and went into their apartment. They laid down in bed and looked at each other, thinking about the night activities.</p><p>"That was nice, Eliot. Thank you." Kaira whispered to Eliot, playing with his hair.</p><p>Eliot smiled. "It was my pleasure, sweetheart." Eliot smiled back.</p><p>Kaira chuckled, looking lovingly at Eliot. Kaira got a smirk on her face and Eliot liked it.</p><p>"Wanna go for another ride?" Eliot asked, knowing what Kaira was thinking.</p><p>"Hell yes." Kaira said.</p><p>Kaira got on top of Eliot and kissed his lips. Kaira let go and smiled at Eliot. They kissed one last time and went to bed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out there. I went through a rough patch over Christmas and got burned out, so I decided to take a temporary break. I'm back now! So, now for the chapterly Leverage edit: </p><p> https://youtu.be/SCxpy32c7Dw  </p><p>Thought I'd kick my revital with a classic and simple song that is fun with my favorite duo!</p><p> </p><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Once again, I'm sorry for the delay. I hope everyone had a good New Year! Remember to vote and share this story with your friends! Much love to you all! Stay safe! </p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. The Three-Card Monte Job (3x9)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team discovers someone is targeting innocent civilians in a blackmail scheme. Things get complicated when the team discovers the target pulling the strings is someone close to Nate... his father Jimmy, just out of prison. With the close connection Nate has to this job, can he find the Queen? Or will this be a pissing match between father and son?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! I'm back! I'm going to try and get back on schedule and update regularly. Thank you all for sticking with this story for so long! I love every one of you! Thank you for the love of this series! Without further adieu, here is chapter 9 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate, Kaira, Sophie, and Hardison met up with their client. A Russian man named Andrei, who was blackmailed into doing something, and given a red phone. He told his story. Someone had threatened him, and his children, wanting him to do one thing. He pulled the phone out of his pocket. "Answer this phone." Andrei said, continuing his story, handing it to Nate, who handed it to Hardison.</p><p>"What are you supposed to do when they call you?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"I do whatever they ask. Then destroy the phone and tell no one, or they'll kill my children." Andrei revealed.</p><p>Whoever these guys were broke one of Kaira's rules. And she showed it on her face.</p><p>"You, uh, install and repair telephone lines for a living?" Nate asked Andrei.</p><p>"For 10 years. I have three major contracts right now. If I'm arrested, it all goes away." Andrei answered.</p><p>"And you have no idea why you were targeted?" Kaira asked, feeling bad for the guy.</p><p>"No. I'm not perfect, but I try to be a good man. My parents came to Boston to get away from this kind of thing - Russians hurting Russians." Andrei said.</p><p>Kaira gave a hint of a smile in comfort, silently telling Andrei she believed him and that she felt bad.</p><p>"And if you contacted the police?" Nate asked.</p><p>"The Russians will know. They say they're watching. This bar, I've been here before. It's probably safe. And you... you're no cop." Andrei said, looking at Nate and Kaira.</p><p>Kaira and Nate smiled at each other. "No. I'm no cop." Nate lightly chuckled.</p><p>"Yeah. Not a cop." Kaira said quietly, amused at herself.</p><p>Just then, Hardison's laptop started beeping. "Cloned." Hardison said, handing the phone back to Nate.</p><p>"This phone rings, I want you to answer it." Nate said, handing the phone back then Andrei. "We'll contact you." Nate said.</p><p>Andrei stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Ford." Andrei said, grateful he got the help he needed, shaking Nate's hand.</p><p>Kaira stood up and looked at Andrei. "I promise, we're not gonna let anything bad happen to your family." Kaira promised, grabbing a card out of her pocket and handed it to Andrei. "If you think these guys are about to go after your family, call me and I'll do what I can." Kaira offered, giving a smile.</p><p>Andrei thanked her and left.</p><p>Kaira sat back down.</p><p>"Okay, now, I put a tap on the phone, so if that thing rings, we'll know it." Hardison informed the team.</p><p>"All right, good. What else?" Nate questioned.</p><p>"There's one incoming call. These guys were thorough. They wanted to make sure if they called, Andei would answer." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Yeah, they, uh, they call it once to test it." Nate realized.</p><p>"Exactly. So if we just call... them... back..." Hardison said, using his laptop to dial the number and run a trace. "Marco." Hardison said, flipping his laptop around.</p><p>"Polo." Kaira smiled, glad they got a location.</p><p>"All right. Kaira, call Eliot and Parker, tell them to head over to the address." Nate ordered.</p><p>The team got up and got ready to do their tasks.</p><p>Kaira got Eliot and Parker and they drove to the warehouse address Hardison sent them. Eliot and Parker arrived, hugging the corner near the entrance.</p><p>"You sure this is the place?" Eliot asked.</p><p>Hardison was back at HQ, offended. "I'm sorry, am - am I - am I sure? Eliot, what is that Russian carrying? It's called a smartphone, okay? Smartphones read e-mails, they have GPS maps, they link to an atomic clock on this little thing called the internet. You ever heard of it? Come on, man. Look, a smartphone has an operating system. If it has an operating system, you know I can hack it." Hardison started ranting.</p><p>Kaira chuckled lightly at herself at the boy's rant.</p><p>Just then, Hardison's laptop beeped, so he walked over and looked at it, starting to chuckle. "Okay. I think I may have I.D'd our bad guy. His name is Pieter Volokh. He and his crew, they used to belong to the M-45s, ex-military hitters turned mafia boys." Hardison explained when Kaira cut him off.</p><p>"Oh, so they're the opposite of me." Kaira retorted, smiling at herself.</p><p>"I guess, kinda. Anyway, now, they took a big hit in a bust last month." Hardison explained, whistling as he looked at news footage of the bust. "They lost 20 million dollars in merchandise to the police. That's gotta hurt. Okay, so - so now look. We know what they're after. They're looking for a big-payout job so that they can get on their feet. Now, I've I.D'd the perp, I know what they want, and I know why. What did you do with your afternoon?" Hardison finally finished ranting.</p><p>"I'll tell you what I'm gonna do when I get back there." Eliot growled as they approached the entrance to the garage part of the warehouse.</p><p>Eliot guided them in and they hugged the pipes, the loud machine muffling their footsteps. There was a guy counting money and had tattoos Eliot recognized.</p><p>"Think he's involved?" Parker asked Eliot.</p><p>"It's Russian mafia. They wear their tattoos like a résumé." Eliot explained. "See that cathedral on his neck? Three spires, three tours in prison. The stars on his arm means he's a captain." Eliot finished explaining.</p><p>"So he's the boss?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"I don't know. Probably. I ran into some of these cats in Petrozavodsk. They blackmail innocent people like Andrei into committing crimes and dropping off money. Then those guys get picked up by the cops or they end up dead. It's brutal." Eliot explained, not liking the situation.</p><p>"Want me to taser him?" Parker asked.</p><p>Eliot gave Parker a look.</p><p>Meanwhile, Nate, Sophie, and Kaira were following Pieter, looking like a couple and their daughter. "No tasering, Parker. Not yet, anyway." Nate ordered.</p><p>"We need him for information." Kaira informed the duo at the warehouse.</p><p>"Are they still in sight?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"I hate this kind of criminal." Sophie said, not liking who these guys were.</p><p>"What exactly were you doing when I chased you?" Nate asked Sophie.</p><p>"I stole art from rich people who could afford it. These guys? They terrorize their victims, they harm families and the worst part? They make innocent people commit crimes." Sophie said.</p><p>"Oh, that's the worst part?" Nate questioned.</p><p>"You blackmail an innocent man into breaking the law, the rest of his life he's gonna feel shame over how you made him feel helpless, or guilt over what you made him do." Sophie argued her point.</p><p>"We chose crime, Nathan. Andrei didn't have a choice." Kaira finished, eyeing Nate.</p><p>Parker was looking through the back of the van that was parked in the back as Eliot kept watch. "Hurry up!" Eliot quietly exclaimed to Parker.</p><p>Parker poked her head out. "I hurried! Then I hurried again! I checked it three times. It's clean." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"Check it again." Eliot said.</p><p>The noise caused the guy to hear them and grab a crowbar as he walked to Eliot. "Hey! What are you doing?" The guy asked.</p><p>"Sh... well... uh..." Eliot stumbled, trying to think of an excuse, and said, "screw it" and fought the guy, throwing him on the ground. Eliot backed near the van and Parker got his attention and threw a crowbar, hitting Eliot in the head. Eliot growled as he picked up the crowbar and fought the guy, using the crowbar to block and disarm the guy as Parker looked through the van. Eliot got him on the ground again.</p><p>"You don't throw crowbars at people!" Eliot scolded Parker, not happy.</p><p>"Sorry!" Parker said, going back in the van as Eliot continued to fight the guy. "You don't throw crowbars at people." Parker mocked as she kept looking. "Could have just tasered him." Parker said.</p><p>Kaira was silently groaning as Nate, Sophie, and herself kept following the goon.</p><p>"Promise me we're gonna take these guys down hard." Sophie said.</p><p>"I promise. Where are they going?" Nate said.</p><p>"I want this to be dramatic and satisfying-" Sophie said, stopping at the corner.</p><p>"Well, it's already exciting. Look where they stopped." Nate said.</p><p>The group of guys walked into the back room of McRory's bar. Right into their backyard.</p><p>"Hardison, we're blown! They reversed the tap." Kaira said, starting to panic.</p><p>"They're gonna kill Hardison." Sophie pointed out.</p><p>"They're gonna kill who? No, they ain't!" Hardison exclaimed, panicking as well, getting up. "I bet you they ain't! Nate, you better stall!" Hardison exclaimed.</p><p>Meanwhile, Eliot and the guy were fighting, locking their crowbars together, turning this fight into a tug of war. Eliot grabbed the fork of the crowbar and used it to pull the guy to him and punch him, knocking him down again.</p><p>Hardison started to realize something. "Look, my only way out is the front door. Are they coming through the front door?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"I don't know." Nate said as Sophie went to get a better look and they followed.</p><p>"What do you mean, you don't know? You better say something. I swear on my mama, I will blow a hole through your bedroom and Spider-man out the side of this building. Tell me something." Hardison said, pacing to the steps.</p><p>The trio saw the guys heading in through the poker room doors.</p><p>"In a second, Hardison. We're going through the back door." Kaira whispered.</p><p>Sophie shushed them as she opened the door and Sophie looked inside and then back to Nate, not liking what she saw.</p><p>"What?" Nate asked.</p><p>"You're not gonna like this." Sophie said as they walked in.</p><p>"What?" Kaira questioned as they walked in.</p><p>There was plans everywhere. "Somebody's been eating our porridge." Sophie said.</p><p>Nate looked out at the bar, and Kaira followed, knowing Nate could use some backup. Sophie followed behind. They stopped at the doorway and looked at the group at the bar. "Nate?" Hardison questioned, worried about the silence.</p><p>"Hold on, Hardison. They're not here for you." Nate informed the hacker.</p><p>Hardison was relieved. "Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I knew it. I mean, nobody can reverse my phone taps. Come on, man. I don't see why you were getting all excited." Hardison said, walking back to his laptop.</p><p>Meanwhile, Eliot and Parker were staring down the guy that was down.</p><p>"All right. I'll do whatever you say. I still have the phone! What else do you want from me?" The guy exclaimed, scared, pulling out the red phone.</p><p>"The red phone again." Parker pointed out.</p><p>"Nate, this guy is not our boss. He's another blackmail victim." Eliot pointed out.</p><p>"Yes, I know. I'm about to meet their boss." Nate said.</p><p>He told Sophie and Kaira to go, but Kaira stayed and followed Nate. Nate looked back and groaned a bit, but didn't argue. They walked up to where an older guy was talking to the Russian mafia.</p><p>"Hello, dad." Nate said, causing the older guy to turn back.</p><p>Kaira kept a straight face to play the part, but inside, Kaira was confused and shocked. Nate's dad, which Kaira figured was Jimmy, motioned for the duo to sit down at the bar. They got drinks.</p><p>"Nathan." Jimmy said, almost shocked to see his son. He turned to his Russian associate. "Give me a moment. I want a word with my son. And his associate. Go on." Jimmy told the goon.</p><p>The goon left, leaving Nate and Kaira alone with Jimmy. "I got out a while ago." Jimmy said.</p><p>"Yeah, I-I know. I knew you were out." Nate said.</p><p>There definitely was a sense of betrayal in the estrangement between Nate and Jimmy.</p><p>"I didn't see you at the prison gates waiting to pick me up." Jimmy pointed out.</p><p>"Yeah, I was, uh, visiting mom's grave." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira looked at both men. "I'm sorry." Kaira said, treading lightly.</p><p>"So, uh, what's - what's a washed-up bookie like yourself doing with a Russian blackmailing crew?" Nate asked Jimmy.</p><p>"I went to prison cause I took the fall for the three families. I did my time for them like a stand-up guy. You heard what happened." Jimmy answered.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was on the news. Yeah, I heard what happened. Artie Van, he turns state's evidence." Nate said before he kept saying, "blah."</p><p>"Turned state's evidence..." Jimmy said, stopping Nate. "...gave up his ledger. 20 years of payoffs- The McTeague's, the O'Hares, the Donnelly's - all the big families are going down by law. Now, once upon a time, they would take care of someone who's gone inside for them. I went to jail for nothing. I want to get my piece." Jimmy revealed his motive.</p><p>"With these guys? These guys that - that threaten children? What?" Nate questioned, hearing his father sigh.</p><p>"Geez, you always thought you were smarter than me, brighter, better than me. Everybody in the neighborhood always treated me with respect, but my own son-" Jimmy said when Nate interrupted.</p><p>"What did you do to respect, exactly?" Nate asked.</p><p>"My son, my altar boy son. Well, hey, listen to you. Never broke the law, you never broke a rule. Look at you now. You're a thief. You've done time. Even got yourself a protégé in Newton's grandaughter." Jimmy said, revealing he knew who Kaira was.</p><p>Kaira perked up. "First, I'm more like Nate's adopted daughter. Second, how the hell do you know my family?" Kaira asked, worried.</p><p>"I did business with your grandfather when you were all of 5 years old. How are they, anyway?" Jimmy asked Kaira.</p><p>"I don't know. Haven't spoken to them in a long time. I got out of that life. Nate found me, took me in. Gave me a purpose." Kaira said, careful of her wording.</p><p>"If you know where I've been, then you know that this is mine and my daughter's town now. And I don't want you running game in it." Nate said.</p><p>"Neither do I." Kaira said, backing Nate.</p><p>"All your life you thought you were better than me. Now you're trying to be me? You can't be me. You don't have the stones for that. You're not tough enough. You're not ruthless enough. You don't have what it takes." Jimmy said, almost taunting Nate.</p><p>"And why would Nate want to be you? And you know what? He is better than you. Know why? Nathan went to prison so I didn't have to. It was me that busted him out. And Nathan hasn't asked a single damn thing in return from me. In fact, he was pissed I wanted to get him out in the first place. But he's never asked for anything from me. That is what makes him better than you, Jimmy." Kaira said, getting upset at the way Jimmy was belittling Nate.</p><p>Nate looked at Kaira, signaling her to calm down.</p><p>"You know, Kaira, you could've had all the power. But you left because you wanted to serve. Maybe you're not ruthless enough, either, to be me." Jimmy taunted Kaira.</p><p>Kaira snickered a bit. "No. I don't want to be you. And I didn't want the power, because I saw what it did to people. I like my life now. I am not changing to fulfill some role I was destined to play. I'm changing so I can be a better person. And, dammit, Nathan is too. Why do you think he took me in? He saw something in me and wanted to help me. So, he did. And I am so damn grateful he did. So I am not gonna sit here and let you talk down on your own son." Kaira said, getting in Jimmy's face.</p><p>Nate silently warning her to back off. Jimmy was amused by Kaira but kept talking to Nate.</p><p>"You remember the first time I brought you into my office?" Jimmy addressed Nate.</p><p>Nate seemed to be thinking of that moment.</p><p>"You weren't good enough to know what I was doing then and you ain't good enough to know what I'm doing now. By the way, I'm setting up, uh, in my old workshop in the back there. I'll be out by this weekend, so don't worry about it." Jimmy said, leaving.</p><p>Kaira breathed out, relieved this conversation was over. "Nate, you know what has to happen next." Kaira said, feeling bad.</p><p>"I know." Nate said, grabbing Kaira's shoulder.</p><p>"Are you gonna be able to do it?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Absolutely." Nate said an angry look on his face as he left to go up to the apartment.</p><p>Nate grabbed a coffee as Kaira joined the group at the table and Hardison pulled up the briefing. "Okay. Run it." Nate ordered, coming to the table.</p><p>The room was silent as Nate sipped his coffee. He sat down on his desk. "Go ahead. Run it." Nate ordered, not knowing what the deal was.</p><p>"You-you know what? Maybe we should just discuss first." Hardison said, sugar coating the actual reason he was stalling.</p><p>"They feel weird going after your dad." Parker revealed.</p><p>"Well, I don't. Come on. Run it. Jimmy Ford. Hardison, tell us about Jimmy Ford." Nate insisted.</p><p>Hardison grabbed the remote. "All right." He said, clicking the monitors up. "Uh. Jimmy. Jimmy, Jimmy Ford. Jimmy - your Pop. He - he wore a lot of criminal hats, man. But, uh, he was, well known in the neighborhood. I think people liked him. He, uh, helped some people get some money." Hardison tried to continue sugar-coating it awkwardly as Nate was fed up.</p><p>"Forget it. No, no." Nate said, going up to the board. "Come on, you can't sugarcoat it. Come on. It's all right. It's all right." Nate insisted.</p><p>"All right." Hardison said, handing the remote to Nate as he walked to the table.</p><p>"You got to tell it like it is, all right? Jimmy Ford - he was, uh - he started off as a bookie who worked for the McTeague's, all right? He ran every bet this side of Atlantic City. Once he had a fair amount of honest citizens in his debt, well, he made the transition into being a loan shark. Now, he used those contacts to become a fixer. So what'd do is he'd take a bad guy that needed a job and a boss who needed a henchmen, match them together. That - That's Jimmy Ford at his peak. King of the neighborhood." Nate explained, turning to the board.</p><p>"And apparently knew my family." Kaira added.</p><p>The team didn't seem to react to that knowledge.</p><p>"I don't know how this ties in with the whole cellphone/blackmail thing." Sophie said.</p><p>"Well, we've got multiple victims. There's Andrei, the telephone repair guy. Then there's Eliot's friend Simakov." Hardison explained.</p><p>"What does he do?" Kaira asked, trying to get the plan together along with Nate.</p><p>"Shipping. Industrial clothing, uniforms. Nothing remarkable. Then, following Pieter's phone, we found a third red phone." Hardison continued explaining.</p><p>"That's a dead end. We don't know who this guy is or what he does or why the Russians want him. And he's not gonna talk to us cause Pieter's boys already put the fear of God in him." Eliot said.</p><p>"What is Jimmy's game?" Nate asked, almost to himself.</p><p>"Well, I imagine he has a chessboard set up in the back room. Looks a lot like yours." Eliot said.</p><p>"No, Dad doesn't like chess. No, his game is three-card monte." Nate explained.</p><p>"Trick is to keep the cards moving, and don't reveal the Queen unless you want them to see the Queen." Kaira realized, realizing this got more complicated.</p><p>"All right, so, we don't have enough information to run a con on this guy. Not yet, anyway. So, um, why don't we just sit this one out?" Sophie said, standing up.</p><p>"Oh, no, no. No, no, we're gonna keep at this. We're gonna gather information." Nate insisted.</p><p>"Let me be a bit clearer - why don't you sit this one out?" Sophie corrected herself.</p><p>"Look, you want us to go after the bad guys, we're gonna go after the bad guys! And we're gonna go after them hard!" Nate exclaimed, walking over to the clear board that had Jimmy's face on it.</p><p>"Yeah, right. I said, "Let's go after the bad guys." But not Jimmy Ford." Sophie said, walking up to Nate, Kaira in tow. "You honestly think that you can put your own father behind bars?" Sophie asked Nate.</p><p>"You got to stop looking at him as my father. He's a mark like any other mark. He's hurting people. We can do this. It's what we do. It's our job to go after the bad guys." Nate said, straight faced.</p><p>"Nathan, it's not your job to take down your father." Kaira said, trying to not flip on Nate.</p><p>"No. It's my pleasure." Nate said, shocking Kaira and Sophie.</p><p>The monitor beeped. "Hey, guys, Andrei, our first victim - he just got a call." Hardison reported.</p><p>"Okay. Let's go." Nate said, leaving.</p><p>The team stayed behind a bit, conflicted on this job. Kaira waited until Nate left and Kaira stood by Eliot, holding his hand in comfort as she spoke.</p><p>"Guys, listen. I know we're talking about Nate's father, here, but we can't let him blackmail people. Let's do this as we would any other job." Kaira said, the team all in agreement.</p><p>They met Nate at the van and drove to the location Hardison got from Andrei. They arrived at the police precinct and grabbed what they needed out of the van. Eliot and Hardison had on police badges and Sophie was in a leopard print dress, and Kaira had something similar. They got out and started walking to the entrance.</p><p>"All right, Andrei's scared, but he's told us what they've asked him to do. He's been tapped because of his access. Now, he's supposed to get into the precinct, on one of his routine maintenance calls and install a black box. With that, the Russians can spoof phone calls off the hardwired phone trunk." Hardison explained, upfront with Nate and Parker as Kaira, Eliot, and Sophie were behind.</p><p>"Can you turn it off remotely?" Parker asked.</p><p>"No, the system's too antiquated for a digital hack." Hardison explained.</p><p>"So Jimmy can control which alarms go to the precinct and which don't." Eliot pointed out.</p><p>"Like silent alarms? From banks?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Or any building with a high-security system." Hardison pointed out.</p><p>"So if we can't hack it, how do we stop him, then?" Parker asked.</p><p>They stopped at the gate.</p><p>"Parker, we can't stop him, or we tip of Jimmy and the Russians. We'd be putting Andrei's family in danger." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>"All right, so." Nate cleared his throat. "We don't stop him. We help him." Nate said. Nate walked away and Sophie sighed, knowing what was happening next.</p><p>She pulled out a set of cuffs and handed them to Hardison and Kaira pulled out a set and both ladies took of their jackets. Eliot snatched the cuffs from Kaira, groaning as he put them on her. Hardison did the same, and they escorted the women into the precinct as Parker left to do her thing. Sophie and Kaira acted drunk as they approached the desk.</p><p>"What?" Sophie said, putting on a Boston accent.</p><p>"Come on, it was only one drink." Kaira moaned, putting a Boston accent as well.</p><p>"Hey, hey, hey bartender! Get me a drink!" Sophie exclaimed.</p><p>Kaira giggled.</p><p>"Quiet down." Eliot growled at the women as they got to the desk. "Hey. Detective Moffat. This is Detective Davies. We're here with District eight." Eliot introduced himself, getting the older cops, Gordon's, attention.</p><p>"What do you got?" Gordon asked.</p><p>"Oh-ho. Who the hell are you, cupcake? Huh? Huh?" Sophie questioned, still acting drunk.</p><p>Kaira went along with it. "Yeah, baby, we weren't causing any trouble." Kaira said, rubbing her head against Eliot's chest like she was drunkenly flirting with him.</p><p>"You want to know who we are? I'm Viola! Viola Dagostino." Sophie said in a singsong voice.</p><p>"Yeah, and I'm her sister Clara Dagostino." Kaira said, also singsongy.</p><p>"Of the Dagostinos." Hardison explained, implying the pair came from a high-class family.</p><p>"We got Viola's husband, we got a brother, and both of her uncles up at eight. Got these two on a drunk and disorderly, Heaven knows that's not gonna keep them away for long, so we got to store them somewhere away from the press." Eliot explained, fighting with Kaira, who was still putting on the drunk act.</p><p>"Yeah, I got you. Let me call it in." Gordon agreed, dialing the phone.</p><p>"All right." Eliot said.</p><p>"You're cute, you know that?" Kaira flirted drunkenly with Eliot, causing him to blush some as he tried to play tough.</p><p>Meanwhile, Parker was plugging in the control center for the alarms. "Nate, incoming." Parker warned. Parker dialed the number and Nate got the call on his phone.</p><p>"Eighth district here." Nate put on a Boston accent. Gordon told Nate about Kaira and Sophie. "Ah, yes, yes. They're a handful." Nate said.</p><p>"Come on, baby, one little drink?" Kaira whined, leaning up against Eliot again, who growled.</p><p>Gordon hung up the phone. "Okay, you're good. Just take them downstairs to the drunk tank. It's empty." Gordon said.</p><p>Eliot started walking away from the desk, Kaira, and Sophie in tow. "Gotcha." Eliot said.</p><p>They got down to the drunk tank and let go as Hardison got the black box installed. The only problem was Sophie and Kaira were still in cuffs.</p><p>"Eliot! Come on!" Sophie scoffed as Eliot pulled the key out. "Make it snappy! Being handcuffed in a police station is a recurring bloody nightmare of mine." Sophie exclaimed as Eliot out the key in the cuffs and got them off.</p><p>"Hmm. We obviously don't have the same dreams." Kaira said as Eliot walked over.</p><p>Just as he went to pick the cuff, Kaira turned to face Eliot and held up the cuff, causing a slight smile from Eliot and a grin from Kaira.</p><p>"I had the key, sweetheart." Eliot pointed out, holding the key.</p><p>"What's the fun in a key when you can pick 'em, baby? Plus I don't mind cuffs." Kaira said, smirking a bit as she put the cuffs back.</p><p>Eliot just shook his head as he kissed her cheek.</p><p>"How do we look?" Eliot asked Hardison.</p><p>"This baby's a lot more sensitive than what Andrei has access to. See..." Hardison clicked the box into place."We can block alarms, we can trigger alarms, but most importantly, we can track alarms. It should be synchronized. Nate?" Hardison said, starting to power up the box.</p><p>"All right, we're good." Nate said.</p><p>"Let's get the hell out of here, then. Sophie, sweetheart?" Eliot said, knowing the cuffs had to go back on.</p><p>Sophie declined. "My exit is with Parker. See you on the outside, cupcakes." Sophie said, leaving.</p><p>Kaira changed into her cop outfit and got out with Eliot and Hardison. They ran to where Hardison parker Lucille, where they were supposed to meet Nate. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Where's he at?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Nate!" Kaira called out, wondering where he was.</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Hardison said, not liking that his prized van was gone as Parker and Sophie joined them.</p><p>"Nate's gone. Dammit! I'm his backup! Why the hell didn't he let me go with him?" Kaira asked, upset.</p><p>"He's off comms." Parker reported.</p><p>"He's off the reservation." Sophie pointed out.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira took a couple of steps forward, knowing what Nate was gonna do.</p><p>"I know what he's up to." Eliot said.</p><p>They got back to the bar. Kaira knew they were in the back room, so she burst in and immediately got guns pointed at her.</p><p>Nate and Jimmy stopped talking.</p><p>"Nathan, you were supposed to contact me when you were about to hit the precint!" Kaira exclaimed, still staying in her cover, not caring about the guns pointed at her.</p><p>Nate gave her a look. "I didn't want to get you any more involved, Kiddo." Nate tried to argue.</p><p>"Like hell, Nathan." Kaira argued as Jimmy walked up to her.</p><p>"This is another unexpected gift, Kaira." Jimmy turned back to Nate."You've taught her well." Jimmy complimented Nate.</p><p>"Not well enough, apparently." Nate looked at Kaira, not happy she came.</p><p>"I'm sure Nathan already told you, but if you want to pull a job like this in our city, we want in." Kaira said.</p><p>Jimmy stared her down Kaira, who moved beside Nate.</p><p>Just then Pieter pointed his gun at Nate. "He's setting us up for the cops." Pieter argued.</p><p>"I just got out of prison." Nate defended himself.</p><p>"You escaped. And yet, you do not run. Why is this? Huh? Because you are, how do you say, a narc." Pieter said, obviously not trusting Nate.</p><p>"If you'd done your homework, you'd know that we set up a warden, brought him down, and got myself a free pass at the same time." Nate argued.</p><p>"Nobody could do this." Pieter argued.</p><p>"Nathan did from inside a prison." Kaira argued.</p><p>"Now, if I can do that, think what we could do for you. Or to you." Nate said.</p><p>"Well, carrot in one hand, stick on the other. That's a hard way to come at them." Jimmy complimented.</p><p>"Well, I learned from the best." Nate said.</p><p>"I learned from the best." Kaira argued.</p><p>Jimmy thought a moment and lowered Pieter's gun hand. "They're in." Jimmy told Pieter.</p><p>"Okay. What's the plan?" Nate asked as the other Russians lowered their guns.</p><p>Jimmy started moseying his way to the board as Nate and Kaira made their way beside the Russians.</p><p>"All right. Pay attention." Jimmy said, getting the board set up.</p><p>"I don't like you." Pieter said to Nate.</p><p>"Gee, does that mean I can't come to your birthday party and ride the pony?" Nate asked sarcastically.</p><p>Jimmy flipped the board, revealing several reconnaissance photos and a map of Boston with three red targets and a blue one.</p><p>Kaira and Nate took a mental snapshot of the locations and reported them to the rest of the team back at Nate's apartment.</p><p>He put up the locations on the screen. "First Boston Independent, State Street branch off the Boston bank, Commonwealth Loan and Securities. Now..." Nate walked over to the table and Parker went up to the screen.</p><p>"First Independent's got a Glenn-Reader alarm system, series F-900. Two guards in the front, one guard in the back." Parker started laughing. "Cameras record - not monitored. Daily turnover - 2 million. State street - mostly commercial papers and loans, but they do have bearer bonds in the basement lockdown room. Just takes a key and a retina scanner. Commonwealth - they -" Parker started laughing again. "Their alarm system's a Holdover from the '70s, but -" Parker started laughing again, not realizing the team was looking at her. "But it's... What?" Parker questioned, finally realizing the team was looking at her weird. "What do you guys do on your weekends?" Parker asked. Parker went back to the table.</p><p>"There's something wrong with you." Eliot said.</p><p>"So, which one's he gonna hit?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"None of them." Kaira revealed.</p><p>"What?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Since Jimmy has control of the black box, he wants to set off the silent alarms for all three banks. The cops will think it's Armageddon. With all the cops going crazy and stretched thin, it'll leave this blue target vulnerable, and the cops away from it." Kaira continued explaining.</p><p>"Away from what?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"We don't know. He won't tell me. Yet. He won't tell me yet." Nate pointed out.</p><p>"You realize how many banks there are south of the precinct?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"67." Parker said.</p><p>The team looked at her.</p><p>Nate thought a moment, and Kaira knew he was on to something. "Okay, guys, it's three-card monte, see? We got to find the red queen. Right now, we got too many cards in play." Nate said.</p><p>"There's still the third phone." Hardison said.</p><p>"That's for you and Eliot. You're gonna find the guy, get his story, all right? Sophie, downstairs - that equipment in the back is used for the job. Get us a look." Nate got most of the plan out.</p><p>"Okay. I'll take Parker. What are you two gonna do?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Me? I'm gonna go get my father to, uh, trust me enough to tell me the whole plan. I'm gonna help him plan a bank robbery." Nate said. Nate was about to leave when Kaira followed him. "Kiddo, no, stay here." Nate ordered Kaira.</p><p>"No. I'm your backup in case you do something stupid again." Kaira argued.</p><p>Nate stopped Kaira. "Kaira, no." Nate argued again.</p><p>"No, Nathan. It's my job to protect you, so I'm gonna do it. Stop arguing." Kaira argued as she walked out the door.</p><p>Nate followed and set a meet. Nate planned to meet Jimmy at a restaurant and drove Kaira and himself to it.</p><p>The trio waited outside as Jimmy told him the target, who had just paid for his food. "That's George Pimsleur - works at Hancock Alarm Security, and in that briefcase is a binder with all the schematics and codes of all the alarms systems they installed, including the alarm system on our real target." Jimmy explained as they saw the target leave the restaurant.</p><p>"Which is what?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Oh, my boys kick his teeth in, they take his wallet, his briefcase, watch, maybe...and over in five minutes." Jimmy said as they watched the target walking across the street into a parking lot.</p><p>"Eh, well, we could. Or we could, uh, take what we want, and the mark never knows he's been hit." Nate suggested.</p><p>Kaira caught on to the plan.</p><p>"How many men?" Jimmy asked. "Two, and one woman. You, me, and my daughter." Nate said. Nate walked away, Kaira not far behind.</p><p>Jimmy followed behind, laughing.</p><p>They got in the parking lot. "What - what are we doing?" Jimmy asked.</p><p>Kaira pulled a thing of mints out of her pocket that was in a pill bottle.</p><p>"Okay, you got to - you got to limp." Nate instructed Jimmy.</p><p>"Which leg?" Jimmy asked.</p><p>"Your left leg. All right. We're gonna do the pill scam." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira handed Jimmy the pill bottle. "Here you go." Kaira said.</p><p>Nate got the attention of the target.</p><p>"Sorry to bother you." Kaira said apologetically.</p><p>"Do you have change for a 20? Uh, the machine's broke over here. I got to get my car out. Got to get my dad to dialysis." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira put on the innocent granddaughter's act as the guy went to get out his wallet.</p><p>Just then, Jimmy spilled the pills. "Oh!" Jimmy said, acting like he felt bad as Nate, Kaira, and the target bent down and started gathering the pills.</p><p>"Oh, dad. Oh, dear." Nate egged on, distracting the target so Jimmy could grab the codes.</p><p>"Dad, why didn't you just hand grandpa the pill instead of making him hold the damn bottle! You know he's clumsy." Kaira argued.</p><p>"I thought he could handle it." Nate argued back.</p><p>"These pills are expensive too, dammit." Kaira said.</p><p>"My mom's got heart trouble. These damn pills cost a fortune, I know." The target said, sympathetic.</p><p>They finished gathering up the few pills left and put them back in the bottle, just as Jimmy grabbed the codes.</p><p>They stood up. "You all right, grandpa?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, feel just fine." Jimmy said.</p><p>Nate finished up the interaction and left.</p><p>"That's not bad." Jimmy complimented.</p><p>"Oh, well, thank you." Nate said.</p><p>"Easy, no muss, no fuss." Kaira said, knowing the plan had worked.</p><p>"It worked out. didn't it?" Nate questioned, proud of himself.</p><p>"My little boy. And his protégé." Jimmy said.</p><p>Kaira actually smiled as they got back in the car and drove back to the bar.</p><p>Meanwhile, Sophie and Parker were getting ready to grift Pieter. They were standing a few yards away from the door to the back room. Parker got a message on her phone.</p><p>"Oh, Hardison got background on Pieter. Okay, ex-Soviet army, three counts armed robbery." Parker said as the duo started walking to the Poker room.</p><p>"No, no, no. I want the good stuff. Give it to me." Sophie said.</p><p>Parker handed Sophie the phone. "All right. He's from Lipetsk. That is close to Penza. And his mother's name is Rada." Sophie gathered, handing the phone back to Parker as they stopped at the doorway.</p><p>"Okay, so what are we thinking? The Berlin Shuffle?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Unh-unh. Little Orphan Annie." Sophie said as a waitress came in between them, excusing herself, as Parker lifted her apron.</p><p>"Need this?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Thanks, Parker." Sophie said.</p><p>"Yeah." Parker muffled out, proud of herself as Sophie got in character. She walked in with a tray of drinks as Parker kept watch for timing.</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You cannot come in here!" Pieter said.</p><p>"Oh! Sorry. Sorry." Sophie said, apologetically, putting on a Boston accent. She went to leave and dropped the glass on the floor, bending down to pick it up as Pieter came over and she cursed (I'm guessing) in Russian.</p><p>"Vy Russkaya?" Pieter asked Sophie.</p><p>"Huh?" Sophie questioned, picking up the glass.</p><p>"You're Russian?" Pieter asked.</p><p>"Oh, no, no, no." Sophie said, laughing.</p><p>"Nuh-unh. No. That was, uh, something my father used to say. Is it bad?" Sophie started as Parker sneaked in and looked underneath the tarp.</p><p>"No, it's not so bad." Pieter said.</p><p>Sophie chuckled.</p><p>"Your parents are Russian?" Pieter questioned.</p><p>"Yeah, from, um - oh, uh... Penzo? I..." Sophie said, acting like she had to think of it.</p><p>"Penza! I'm from Lipetsk. What is your name?" Pieter said, getting excited.</p><p>Parker took some photos and Sophie introduced herself, and distracted Pieter enough, faking a Russian lesson as Parker left.</p><p>In another part of Boston, Eliot and Hardison tracked down the third red cell phone. They walked up to a coffee vendor across the street, selling a lot of cop's coffee. Hardison showed Eliot his phone, which had the tracking still up.</p><p>"Yeah, next red phone is right ahead. We just got to figure out who has it." Hardison said as they crossed the street.</p><p>Eliot and Hardison were recognized by Eliot's alias from earlier.</p><p>"Hey, Moffat!" Gordon from the station earlier called out, causing the hitter and hacker to stop.</p><p>They said hey and walked up to them, laughing.</p><p>"How you doing?" Eliot asked Gordon.</p><p>"What are you guys doing back in our district?" Gordon asked the duo.</p><p>"Oh, uh, I think you guys are holding a gun that was tagged in a case we caught." Eliot said, hoping to get some information.</p><p>"Hey, let me get you one here. This is the best coffee this side of town." Gordon said, paying for the coffee.</p><p>"All right." Eliot accepted.</p><p>"You know, you want to get in there before the shift changes. Yeah. Cause that evidence - that ships out to Holyoke first thing tomorrow morning. And that is a drive you do not want to make." Gordon said as Hardison got a bunch of beeping from his phone.</p><p>They left and thanked him and walked away.</p><p>"You sure that's the same red phone?" Eliot asked Hardison.</p><p>"Yeah. Look, is it me or does this make less sense every time we find something out?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Pretty much." Eliot said, leaving.</p><p>Meanwhile, Nate, Kaira, and Jimmy were laughing, coming back in the back room. Pieter leaped out of his seat, furious.</p><p>"You were supposed to call us!" Pieter exclaimed.</p><p>"Huh?" Jimmy questioned.</p><p>"To hit the alarm man." Pieter reiterated.</p><p>"Ah, yeah, well, Nathan and his protégé here - they took care of it with a little soft touch." Jimmy put the plans he got in Pieter's hand.</p><p>Jimmy grabbed three glasses and put then on a side table and Nate and Kaira grabbed one.</p><p>"It's good work." Pieter complimented as Jimmy poured the drinks.</p><p>"Here you go, Sonny boy. And Ms. Newton." Jimmy said.</p><p>Nate and Kaira toasted and were about to take a sip when a gun was heard being cocked.</p><p>"You can go." Pieter ordered Nate.</p><p>"No, actually, I'm not going anywhere. He says I'm in, I'm in." Nate argued.</p><p>"Then you can go." Pieter ordered Kaira, who tossed her drink back, feeling the cold steel against her back.</p><p>"Your boss says that I'm in." Kaira argued, turning around.</p><p>"I'm so sick of this idea about you -" Pieter argued when Nate turned and cocked him in the face and Kaira grabbed the gun, taking the magazine out and disarming it, sending him back towards his guy as Kaira held Nate.</p><p>"Stop waving that gun in our faces. You're so tough, prove it." Nate said.</p><p>Pieter punched Nate, sending him into Jimmy, who said he had Nate's back. Kaira also cold-cocked Pieter, punching him back into his guys.</p><p>"We warned you." Kaira said as she got punched.</p><p>Nate held her. Nate was face to face with Pieter.</p><p>"Come on. We don't have to do this. It's all right." Nate said. He headbutted Pieter, which caused a brawl between Nate and Kaira and Pieter and his boys.</p><p>Once the fighting was done, they headed to the bar and Kaira held an ice pack on Nate's head. Jimmy moved a couple of glasses down.</p><p>"Stop waving that gun in our faces and prove it." Jimmy quoted Nate, causing a chuckle.</p><p>"Yeah, well, I had to have it out with the guy. I mean, I'd rather he punch me in the face than shoot me in the back." Nate argued, moving Kaira's hand to remove the ice pack, but Kaira still held it, brushing him off.</p><p>"Me too." Kaira agreed with Nate.</p><p>"No, no. You two really went at it back there." Jimmy said, pointing back to the poker room, which was a mess.</p><p>"What was it you used to always say to me? You're too much of a thinker, Nathan. You need to, uh, be - be more of a scrapper to survive." Nate said.</p><p>"Well, I taught you some fighting moves." Kaira said, not happy Nate got hurt.</p><p>"Yeah, well, I'm never wrong." Jimmy said.</p><p>"That, too, you used to always say." Nate said as Kaira removed the ice and the trio took a shot and chuckled.</p><p>"Well, I gotta tell you, I doubted your intentions when you came to join this lot." Jimmy said.</p><p>"Join this lot? No. Joining you. You." Nate said.</p><p>"I just follow Nathan around." Kaira said, brushing it off as Jimmy seemed taken back some.</p><p>"These guys, they're a dime a dozen, Pop. I mean..." Nate said, hoping Jimmy would reveal more.</p><p>"Yeah, but that dime a dozen is getting tougher every year, ain't it?" Jimmy said.</p><p>"What do you hope you get out of this, uh, plan you're cooking up?" Nate asked Jimmy.</p><p>"Without giving you any particulars, I plan to make a small fortune out of this, Nathan." Jimmy revealed.</p><p>"Wait, wait, wait. So one last job?" Nate asked.</p><p>"If there's enough money in it, yeah." Jimmy revealed.</p><p>"Okay. And then?" Nate asked, wondering if his dad was serious.</p><p>"Get on a boat. Go back to where your grandfather came from. You know, uh, you still got some pretty cousins back there, you know." Jimmy revealed.</p><p>"So - all right, so... This - this - this big last score, and the great Jimmy Ford, what goes to Ireland to retire? That..." Nate tried to piece it together.</p><p>"That's quite a picture." Jimmy said, hopeful in a way.</p><p>"You ever wish ma was joining you?" Nate asked, solemn.</p><p>Kaira felt bad. For the three years since she met Nate, she never once asked Nate about his childhood. She told the team most of her story, and Kaira got most of the stories from her found family, but she never got Nate's. Kaira pursed her lips and took a drink, keeping silent.</p><p>"She didn't really understand me, Nathan. But she loved me. That's more important." Jimmy said.</p><p>Nate and Kaira did some thinking and left soon after.</p><p>The next morning, Nate walked down the stairs and was met with Sophie. "You were up late." Sophie said to Nate as he grabbed his coat.</p><p>"Yeah, I was out trying to get information from my dad." Nate said, putting his coat on.</p><p>"Oh, good. So you know what bank he's gonna hit, then. Today's the day." Sophie said.</p><p>Nate grabbed his earbud from the inside pocket. "I know." Nate said, walking away as Sophie stood up and he put his earbud in.</p><p>"Nate, this would be hard on anyone. You don't have to do this." Sophie said, stopping Nate.</p><p>"Yes, I do. I'm the only one who can." Nate said.</p><p>He walked out and went into the back room, thinking his dad was there, but wasn't. The room had been cleared out. Nate also realized that the remote wasn't in his coat pocket, and that Jimmy lifted it when he grabbed Nate during his and Kaira's fight with the Russians.</p><p>Nate called the team in the room. Hardison was first and Kaira was behind as Nate was leaning against a center table, mad.</p><p>"Nate, what's the deal?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"He cleared out. They're on the job and we have no idea what the job is." Nate said.</p><p>"Dammit!" Kaira exclaimed, not happy, but trying to think.</p><p>"We got the warehouse guy and the coffee guy..." Hardison tried to argue when Nate cut him off.</p><p>"No, no, we have no idea what he's doing." Nate said.</p><p>"Already in play." Hardison finished.</p><p>Sophie walked in with a scrolled up big piece of paper. "Look what I found in the alley." Sophie said, laying the map of Boston with the circles on the table.</p><p>"Oh, great. A map that we've seen before." Nate argued, getting upset with Sophie.</p><p>"Hey, this is not her fault. You're the one who let your dad walk out of here." Eliot said, walking in and joining Kaira with Parker coming in behind him.</p><p>"Oh, good, we got our room back." Parker said, joining everyone at the table.</p><p>"Nate, the plans you got were from the Hancock Alarm Company. We just need Hardison to figure out how many banks in this radius have got Hancock Alarms." Sophie said.</p><p>"23." Parker answered.</p><p>"Assuming it is a bank. Cause I don't know what you would be doing with one of these in a bank." Hardison said, pulling out a scanner. "It's the same one that Parker saw in Pieter's bag. A bar-code scanner. It scans a bar-code label and compares it to a remote database. But what are they doing with it?" Hardison said.</p><p>"We still got the coffee guy in play. What's he up to?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"It's a lot of cops, man. Uh, maybe he's drugging them. Slows down response time." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira and Nate were thinking.</p><p>"That's a good idea. He could have drugged them. You think he'd drug the whole precinct? Come on!" Eliot argued with Hardison as Kaira flashed back to her own uncle teaching her three-card monte. The many times she missed the trick.</p><p>Then it hit Nate and Kaira. "Guys, I know where he's going." Nate revealed, looking at Kaira. He paced around Hardison and to Kaira and looked at her. "Kiddo, what's the trick to three-card monte?" Nate asked her.</p><p>Kaira smiled. "The queen is never on the table." Kaira answered. Nate continued pacing.</p><p>"It's not a bank. Hardison, where do police keep evidence, I mean the really valuable stuff?" Nate asked Hardison.</p><p>Kaira remembered what Eliot had told her.</p><p>"In the district, then they transfer it out." Nate said, still pacing. Kaira realized what Nate was getting at.</p><p>"The Russians. Guys, the Russians are trying to get what was taken in the bust last month." Kaira realized.</p><p>Nate made it all around to where he originally was.</p><p>"They got to get drugs, guns, and 20 million dollars." Nate said.</p><p>"It's on the move. Today." Eliot said.</p><p>"That's correct." Nate said. Kaira realized the plan.</p><p>"Jimmy's gonna use the remote to trigger the three silent alarms at the banks, then use the confusion and drugged cops to get inside the precinct. He's gonna use the uniforms to blend in, cause in the confusion, nobody's gonna care about some cops going into evidence transfer. They go in, scan the boxes, find their guns, drugs, and money, and they're out." Kaira realized what Jimmy's plan was.</p><p>The team chuckled, realizing Nate was rubbing off on Kaira, maybe a bit too much.</p><p>They made a plan and went into Lucille and went to the precinct.</p><p>"All right, you know the plan." Nate said.</p><p>"Run and hack at the same time - sure." Hardison said, standing beside Nate.</p><p>"All right, wait - wait a second. Let's go over this, all right? Stop." Eliot stopped Nate. "Why don't you just tell the cops everything?" Eliot asked Nate.</p><p>"The Russians could start shooting." Nate revealed.</p><p>"Still, there's enough cops to handle it." Parker tried to argue.</p><p>"All right, we stick to the plan, the Russians will go down." Nate said.</p><p>"And your father." Sophie said.</p><p>Nate turned around to face her. "Oh, I've got him. I want to look him dead in the eye when I put him down." Nate said, a man on a mission.</p><p>Nate walked into the precinct as Hardison started hacking. Parker was on her way to evidence lockup. Sophie and Nate went up to the desk, Sophie in her cover from when they installed the black box. Nate used his Jimmy Popodokolos lawyer cover and got in. He followed Jimmy up to the Organized crime division office, which had all the evidence against the families Jimmy went down for. Nate revealed himself, holding a gun down.</p><p>"It's gonna end right here, dad." Nate said. He cocked the gun and pointed it at his dad. "You ready?" Nate asked.</p><p>Jimmy was surprised, yet calm. "How'd you know?" Jimmy asked Nate.</p><p>"Oh, you'd never take the money and run." Nate said.</p><p>"Five million dollar's a lot of money, Nathan." Jimmy argued.</p><p>"For you, it's never about the money. I knew that growing up, watching you. It was about respect for you." Nate said.</p><p>Jimmy held up the ledger. "Artie Van's Ledger." Jimmy said.</p><p>"Yeah, they made copies." Nate said.</p><p>"Oh, you know that won't hold up. The original disappears, the case against the families goes away, and who do they owe? Jimmy Ford, the biggest fixer in town. Let's join up. You and your protégé. Together, we can run this town." Jimmy offered.</p><p>Nate uncocked the gun and put it down. "It's too late." Nate said.</p><p>"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked.</p><p>"My people are gonna take down the Russians, and any minute now, the cops are gonna come through that door." Nate said.</p><p>"I'm not going back to prison." Jimmy said.</p><p>"All right." Nate cocked the gun again and pointed it at Jimmy. "Right here." Nate said, staring right at Jimmy.</p><p>"You can't do this. I could, but... you're your mother's son." Jimmy said.</p><p>Nate held the gun for a moment before telling Jimmy to go and put the gun down. Jimmy left and Parker came down once JImmy was gone. Nate was shaking, sitting in his seat.</p><p>Meanwhile, Eliot and Kaira were clearing the way. Eliot and Kaira sneaked up to the armored truck and knocked, yelling to open up in Russian. The guy opened the door and Kaira cracked him in the balls, sending him to his knees screaming and Eliot knocked him out and put him in the truck, and ran, Kaira in tow.</p><p>Meanwhile, at evidence lockup, Hardison was tricking the label reader, making the Russians think cookware was in the boxes, not what they were after.</p><p>Parker opened up the vents and just stood, looking at Nate, who was emotional.</p><p>"You let him go." Parker said.</p><p>"Yeah. I had to." Nate said.</p><p>"I know." Parker said.</p><p>She threw the rope down and Nate got up and went into the vent.</p><p>Hardison locked them in the evidence lockup. Hardison watched as they banged on the gate. "Age of the geek, baby. Stay strong." Hardison left.</p><p>Just at sunset, after the Russians were arrested. Nate met with Jimmy at a marina.</p><p>"Yeah, I called each of the families. I told them you were the one who stole the evidence against them. They were grateful. Until I laid out the deal." Nate said, walking to his father.</p><p>Jimmy walked to Nate. "You blackmailed them?" Jimmy asked.</p><p>"No. You blackmailed them." Nate said.</p><p>"They almost killed me." Jimmy pointed out, realizing what Nate had done.</p><p>"Of course they did. Yeah, you've got a price on your head that's bigger than most of my team's scores." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira came around the corner. "Including me." Kaira said, causing Nate to turn. "Who wouldn't want that kind of money?" Kaira asked, revealing she knew what Nate did.</p><p>"You want me killed then?" Jimmy asked Nate.</p><p>Nate swallowed hard. "See that boat behind you?" Nate asked.</p><p>Jimmy looked back at the ship and realized what Nate was doing.</p><p>"You're running me out of town? My own son?" Jimmy asked.</p><p>"Cheap passage booked under Jimmy Logue. You'll be in Galway in two weeks." Nate said.</p><p>Jimmy understood the reference. "Logue. Your mother's maiden name. How sweet of you." Jimmy said, taunting Nate.</p><p>"Oh, you better hurry up. A man with no suitcase is likely to look suspicious, so try to act natural." Nate said.</p><p>"You betrayed your own father. You're more ruthless than me. Crueler than me. Yeah. Maybe you are better than me, huh?" Jimmy said, looking at Nate proudly. "I'm proud of you, son." Jimmy said. He turned to Kaira. "He's done well teaching you, Newton." Jimmy complimented.</p><p>"Yes, he did. Actually, I don't go by Kaira Newton anymore. I'm Kaira Spencer now." Kaira revealed, bittersweetly.</p><p>Jimmy smiled. "How nice. You're all grown up." Jimmy said. He pulled Kaira in and kissed her forehead. "Keep an eye out on my son, huh?"Jimmy said.</p><p>"I always do." Kaira said, grabbing Nate's arm.</p><p>"Hey, enjoy your retirement." Nate called out.</p><p>Jimmy waved back and got on the boat.</p><p>He turned and saw the team. He walked as Kaira let go of Nate's arm and grabbed Eliot's arm and they followed him.</p><p>"That was... kind, what you did." Sophie pointed out.</p><p>Parker and Hardison stood beside each other. "So, uh, is Nate gonna be nice now?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Don't count on it." Hardison said. Eliot chuckled a tad as they left the marina.</p><p>They headed back to the bar. Nate was sitting at the bar, thinking of what had happened, when Kaira sat next to him, but didn't say a word.</p><p>"I'm sorry." Nate said.</p><p>"For what, Nathan?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"I'm sorry that I wasn't a better man, a better mentor." Nate paused a moment to take a drink welled up in both of them. "A better father." Nate finished.</p><p>Kaira also took a sip of her drink, trying to calm herself. "Nathan, you're the second-best thing that's happened to me." Kaira revealed.</p><p>"Who's first?" Nate asked, causing Kaira to chuckle, and Nate to chuckle.</p><p>"Eliot will always be the best thing to happen to me. But you will always be the second-best thing to happen to me. Because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten the third best thing." Kaira revealed.</p><p>"Which is?" Nate asked.</p><p>"The team. Nathan, you gave me a family, and that's never something I can repay." Kaira said, smiling through the tears at Nate.</p><p>"I don't know why, but I remember chasing you and Eliot for the first time." Nate said. Kaira knew the memory.</p><p>"Moscow." Kaira said.</p><p>"I saw a lot of myself in you. You may not know or remember, but I saw you there. I saw your file, and I felt bad for you." Nate said, revealing he knew Kaira's story.</p><p>Kaira put her glass down. "What? You knew about Kasey?" Kaira questioned.</p><p>"And your parents. I was investigating the claim on the insurance. I said to allow it, but Blackpoole said to decline it. I'm sorry. If I tried-" Nate tried to argue, but Kaira stopped him.</p><p>"No. Nathan, you can't do that. It wasn't your fault. You were going through your own stuff, and Blackpoole was a bastard. Okay? Don't go putting that on yourself." Kaira calmed Nate down.</p><p>Nate hugged her and Kaira hugged him back. "I am proud of you, kiddo." Nate whispered to Kaira.</p><p>"I learned from the best." Kaira whispered back.</p><p>They let go and the father and daughter duo finished their drinks. Nate let go off the guilt he had with Kasey and Kaira. And Kaira knew she was rubbing off on Nate a bit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I want to thank all of you for the support! Here is the chapterly Leverage edit: </p><p>   https://youtu.be/HVMPMiOhuh8</p><p>I thought this song fit with the themes of this episode, and this is a fun song. </p><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to vote and share this story with your friends! Much love! Stay safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. The Underground Job (3x10)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nate and the team discover a mine in West Virginia whose owner's negligence caused the mine to explode. And the money the owner got to fix the mine went to an attorney general. The team's goal, take down the corrupt duo and make the mine safer.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello!<br/>I'm back with another chapter! I hope you liked it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The team's latest client was a miner named Troy Rollins, who lost 12 of his friends in a mine explosion two years prior. He told the story of what happened that day. Nate, Eliot, and Kaira were at the table talking to him. "Go on, Mr. Rollins." Nate said, wanting to know more. </p><p>"I... well, I lost 12 brothers that day." Troy revealed.</p><p> Kaira sighed, feeling bad for the guy. "What caused the explosion?" Kaira asked. </p><p>"It was a-a buildup of methane gas. See, the mine had substandard ventilation. I mean, we all knew about it, but there ain't nothing we could do." Troy said. </p><p>"So I guess getting another line of work wouldn't be an option, huh?" Nate asked Troy. </p><p>"Mines are the only way to make a decent living around there." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"I mean, I-I'm not looking for your charity, Mr. Ford. We like the work. We'd just like to be able to do it safely is all." Troy said. </p><p>"I understand. So the CEO of the mine, this Dan Blackwell, he received government money after the explosion." Nate said, looking at the papers in front of him.</p><p>"Figures -- you kill a dozen of your own men, and Uncle Sam writes you a check." Eliot said, not happy. </p><p>"Yeah, that money was supposed to go to mine-safety improvements. I don't know where that money went, but I can tell you it didn't make it into the mine. That place is just as bad as it was two years ago. Maybe worse." Troy explained. </p><p>"All right. We'll find the money, and we're gonna put it back where it belongs." Kaira said, nodding at Troy. </p><p>"Thank you. Thank you." Troy looked at the trio. </p><p>Kaira walked him out as Nate got Hardison to do some research on Blackwell and reported in that afternoon. They all gathered at the screen and table for the briefing with Nate, Sophie, and Parker at the table, and Eliot behind Kaira on the other side of Nate. </p><p>"Well, it turns out Blackwell did use the money for safety measures -- one big safety measure. She's named Debra Pierce." Hardison explained, holding up various images of the middle-aged woman. </p><p>"West Virginia Attorney General." Sophie pointed out. </p><p>"Her hair's so poofy." Parker said randomly, causing Kaira to chuckle. </p><p>"Um, thanks to a recent supreme court decision removing limits on corporate campaign contributions, Blackwell was able to sink all of his safety money into Pierce's political action committee." Hardison explained. </p><p>"He paid her off." Kaira realized. </p><p>"So instead of making the mines safer, he just hired himself an attorney general." Eliot observed.</p><p> Hardison sat on the barstool in front of the clear screen. "Yeah. Well, he's getting his money's worth. Since the explosion two years ago, Blackwell has received nearly 400 citations for unsafe working conditions." Hardison explained, pulling up the many citations on screen. </p><p>"Well, even he can't just make 400 citations disappear. Can he?" Sophie pointed out. </p><p>"No. But he can bury 'em." Hardison said. </p><p>"What he does is he appeals them. And Pierce makes sure that those appeals go on forever. So while the citations are under appeal, he doesn't have to pay a cent." Nate explained. </p><p>"We can't go after Blackwell with an A.G in his back pocket." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"No, but we can tale down both of them. What we do is we get Blackwell to give us the money from the PAC, and then once that money is transferred, we flag both of them for misuse of campaign funds." Nate put the plan together. </p><p>Sophie looked at Nate as Hardison walked over. "The Skagway Shuffle." Sophie suggested.</p><p> "Yeah. That's what I was thinking." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison obviously didn't get it. "See, now y'all are just making stuff up." Hardison said, causing smiles. </p><p>"It's like the Fiddle Game." Sophie explained. </p><p>"Yeah, only underground." Nate said. </p><p>"Is Eliot gonna be the fiddle again?" Parker asked. </p><p>"No. As much as I liked hearing your singing, babe, I don't want a repeat of the whole people trying to kill you thing." Kaira switched between Eliot and Nate, warning them both. </p><p>"No." Sophie and Nate confirmed. </p><p>"Can I be the fiddle?" Parker asked. </p><p>"No." Sophie and Nate said. </p><p>"The mine is the Fiddle. We convince him that he's got something valuable in his mine, then we sell him a process to mine it. And then we take all his money." Sophie explained the con. </p><p>"Right. Good. So, how are we gonna do that?" Parker asked. </p><p>"We're gonna sell the guy his own mine." Nate said, tapping the table. </p><p>The team got packed and headed to West Virginia. Sophie and Hardison were acting as inspectors going to investigate the mine as Eliot went in to the mine under the cover that he was getting a dust reading, Troy telling him to follow Corey to the section he needed to get to. Nate introduced himself as a buyer. Parker and Kaira were working Pierce at the State Capital. Nate came out of the office.</p><p>"Okay, Parker, Kaira. Are you in place?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Uh, almost. Why can't Kaira do this on her own?" Parker asked, standing outside the office with Kaira. </p><p>"Uh, well, we need all hands on deck on this one. Just do what Sophie told you and listen to Kaira." Nate said. Kaira nodded at Parker. </p><p>"You got this. I'll back you if you need it." Kaira assured Parker. </p><p>Kaira remembered back to the office before they left. Sophie told Parker that grifting was like a romance, helping Parker to compare grifting to robbing a bank, and Kaira handed Parker a notepad to help her take notes. Parker and Kaira tuned back in. Parker was flipping through a notebook. </p><p>"Parker, go!" Nate yelled in the comm. </p><p>Kaira helped Parker calm down and they walked in. Pierce was practicing a speech. </p><p>"Under my continued direction, the people of West Virginia will be known as the people who love freedom, who love justice, and who fight for what they love! And... and fight for what they love. Will you let me continue to fight for you?" Pierce said into her mirror. Parker was all smiles and Kaira was as well. </p><p>"Yes, yes, and yes!" Parker exclaimed, putting on a West Virginian accent. </p><p>Parker started clapped and chuckling. "Beautiful speech, Ms. Pierce." Parker complimented.</p><p> Kaira chuckled as Parkers burst of energy. "You'll have to excuse her, she was way to wound up all day." Kaira brushed it off.</p><p>"Who are you?" Pierce asked. </p><p>"I'm your biggest fan... and hopefully we'll be your new campaign consultants." Parker said.</p><p> Pierce chuckled lightly. </p><p>"I've been following your career since your first term in the state senate." Parker started walking to the desk. "And this is your chamber where you dispense justice and fight for freedom!" Parker exclaimed, causing a smile from Kaira. </p><p>Parker and Pierce circled as they chuckled. "Still didn't catch your name, sweeties." Pierce pointed out. </p><p>Kaira walked up to Parker. "Oh, Kelly Beth? Kelly Beth Laughlin? Mary Ann Laughlin? But you can call be Kelly Beth and her Mary Ann. Can I call you boss?" Parker said, definitely using the flattery that Sophie suggested. </p><p>Kaira chuckled along with Pierce as she went to her desk. "Oh, darlin', as much as I'd love your energy in the homestretch of this campaign, I don't have much of a budget for a campaign consultant." Pierce said. </p><p>Parker and Kaira walked up to the desk. "I'm Kelly Beth Laughlin and she's Mary Ann Laughlin..." Parker stuck the mic under her desk as she spoke.</p><p> "Of the Maysville Laughlins. We don't need a salary. In fact, we'd pay for the chance to work with you." Kaira continued. </p><p>Pierce was surprised. "Well, damn, I'm happy to work with anybody willing to pay for it." Pierce said, chuckling. She extended a hand to the girls. "Welcome aboard Team Pierce." Pierce said, shaking Parker, then Kaira's hand. </p><p>Kaira smiled, then turned away like she felt a sneeze coming. </p><p>"We're in." Kaira whispered, then apologized to Pierce as they got to work. </p><p>Eliot was at the section. "So, what did you do to get stuck with busy work?" Corey asked Eliot, pulling out the reader. </p><p>"Me? I'm the new guy. What's your story?" Eliot walked over to Corey. </p><p>"I'm the young guy." Corey said. </p><p>"Yeah? How old are you?" Eliot questioned Corey, trying to be friendly. </p><p>"18." Corey answered. </p><p>"18, huh? Why aren't you in school?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"School doesn't pay the mortgage." Corey explained. </p><p>"You're a little young to have a wife and kid, aren't you?" Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"It's my mom and my sister. My dad was in the explosion two years ago." Corey explained, solemn. </p><p>"I'm sorry." Eliot said, quietly. Eliot felt bad for the kid as. He walked over to the comm system and turned on the device Hardison gave him earlier. Eliot thought back to the interaction with him, Hardison, and Kaira at the office table.</p><p>"Now, there's no cell reception underground. Okay, the miners, they use a leaky feeder signal to communicate in the mine. But that's not compatible with our comms." Hardison said as Eliot sighed. </p><p>"I know. Quite the problem. You're wondering if I have an answer?" Hardison put his fist to his mouth and let out a squeek. </p><p>"I do. Bam!" Hardison pulled out the small device. </p><p>"I created these UHF wireless nodes to couple with the leaky feeder, boost the signal, And then we -- Hey! Hey, man, hey!" Hardison said as Eliot grabbed the device and put it roughly in the bag. </p><p>"Look man, I know! I put them in the mine!" Eliot exclaimed, sparing himself the geek talk as Kaira chuckled. </p><p>"Yeah, but they're very --" Hardison tried to argue. </p><p>"What? I got it! They're fragile!" Eliot exclaimed, hitting the bag and then leaving with it, leaving Kaira trying not to laugh at how offended Hardison was.</p><p> "I thought we was making progress." Hardison told Kaira. </p><p>"I think he needs his coffee." Kaira joked.</p><p> Eliot tuned back in and put the device in the comm box and shut it. </p><p>"Section C's prepped." Eliot reported. </p><p>Kaira was glad to hear his voice again, even though she couldn't show it as she was busy. Hardison, Sophie, and the mine supervisor, Clark, kept walking in the mine. </p><p>"And now to section C?" Hardison suggested. </p><p>"Right this way." Clark said, leading the way as the dup followed him. </p><p>They made to section C, and Hardison started pulling out a scanner, scanning the wall as Sophie stood near him. </p><p>"Hey, what is that?" Clark asked. </p><p>"Dust reading." Hardison explained, not looking back. </p><p>"That doesn't look like no dust-reading kit." Clark pointed out, skeptical. </p><p>"Well, you don't look like no certified M.S.C Safety Inspector." Hardison brushed off. </p><p>The scanner was beeping. Hardison pointed at it. </p><p>"Look." Hardison said, implying something was there. </p><p>"You sure?" Sophie asked, still in her American accent. </p><p>"Yeah." Sophie said. Back at Pierce's office, Parker was on the laptop at a desk, Kaira behind her, acting like she was giving pointers on something. Just then, Pierce walked in, still on the phone, holding a coffee cup. </p><p>"Yes, I understand the D.A would like this taken care of, but you remind him that my time is valuable and he hasn't bought any of it recently. Thank you." Pirece said. </p><p>She hung up the phone and looked at Parker and Kaira, sighing gladly. </p><p>"Getting comfy?" Pierce asked the women. </p><p>"Yes, definitely." Kaira confirmed for herself. </p><p>"Yes, Ma'am. I've set up re-election Facebook and Twitter accounts and Mary Ann opened a political action committee called Tomorrow's Women to consolidate the donations." Parker explained, and Kaira smiled to confirm. </p><p>"I like it." Pierce said, walking to the other side of the room, looking at her phone. </p><p>"Oh, and, uh, so far we raised 436 dollars." Kaira informed Pierce, Parker handing her the report.</p><p>"Well, color me pink and put me in a pig pen. You're fast workers." Pierce said, impressed. She put the file in with the piles on other papers on her desk. In reality, Parker and Kaira had put mics everywhere inside the office, specifically by her desk, and plugged in a USB that already had everything needed on it. </p><p>"Well, you know what they say about idle hands." Parker said as Pierce handed Parker her mug and went to her desk. Parker mimed that she was gonna strangle Pierce, which caused Kaira to smack Parkers arm and move along as they kept working. </p><p>Meanwhile, Sophie and Nate met at a restaurant once she was done with the safety inspection. Nate saw Sophie walk in. </p><p>"Hey, did they buy the, uh, safety-inspection bit?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Absolutely." Sophie spoke in a British accent, different from her own, spying Blackwell in a corner booth. Nate also spotted him. </p><p>"Okay. Right on schedule. You're up." Nate whispered to Sophie. </p><p>"Great work today! You're a peach!" Nate said, louder as he left. </p><p>"I'll talk to you later, Mr. Gibson." Sophie said to Nate. </p><p>Blackwell sat next to Sophie. "Oh. Hello, there, again, Mr. Blackwell." Sophie put back on her American accent. </p><p>"Just cut the act. Now, who are you, and what are you doing with Mr. Gibson?" Blackwell asked bluntly.</p><p>Sophie kept silent. "You know, uh, impersonating a federal safety inspector is a felony in West Virginia." Blackwell pointed out, forcing Sophie's hand. </p><p>Sophie pulled out a business card. "My name is Eloise Tinson. I'm a mineral extraction expert. I'm in town to make Mr. Gibson a very wealthy man, take home a little something for myself." Sophie explained in her British accent from earlier. </p><p>Blackwell looked at the card. "Well, your expertise is wasted on Mr. Gibson. He doesn't own the mine." Blackwell pointed out. </p><p>"On the contrary, Mr. Blackwell, he owns the 400 acres to the North and East of yours. And I hear he made a little offer on yours today." Sophie pointed out. </p><p>"Ah. Well, mine's not on the market. And, uh, his land is, uh, mined out years ago." Blackwell said. </p><p>"Yes. For coal. We're looking for something a little more... lucrative." Sophie explained, pulling out the mineral report and dropping it in front of Blackwell. </p><p>"Coltan?" Blackwell questioned, looking at the report. </p><p>"Columbite-Tantalite. It's a mineral found in cellphones, DVD players, computers. It's found in abundance in Central Africa. and frankly, everything's a bloody mess over there. American companies are desperate to get their hands on a domestic source." Sophie explained, setting the bait. </p><p>"What is your role in all this?" Blackwell asked. </p><p>"My company developed a process for locating and mining coltan. Mr. Gibson is buying that process." Sophie said. </p><p>"Well, if there's, uh, coltan in my mine... Mr. Gibson isn't gonna get his hands on it." Blackwell said, chuckling, realizing how valuable the mine is. </p><p>"Well, according to the readings that my partner and I took today, yes, there is coltan is your mine. And using our process, Mr. Gibson is gonna be able to mine it right out from under you." Sophie said. </p><p>"The hell he will. You're not the only one with a partner." Blackwell said. </p><p>He left. Back at the State Capital, Parker and Karia were walking with Pierce. Parker was about to touch Pierce's hair, which caused another slap on the hand from Kaira. </p><p>"Parker. Kaira. Blackwell just left Sophie. Did you plant the form?" Hardison came in on comms.</p><p> "Yeah. It's on her desk with the other forms you gave me." Parker whispered, turning around.</p><p> "Good. Make sure she finds it." Hardison said. </p><p>Kaira and Parker got the message. Kaira stayed back, acting like she was looking up something on her phone as Parker walked over to Pierce's desk and started humming and organized the papers, sticking the form out some. </p><p>"How do you do it? HOw do you handle all this?" Parker asked, acting amazed. </p><p>Pierce started chuckling. "Well, the thing about justice is, it's messy." Pierce explained.</p><p> Parker hummed in response. </p><p>"It's kind of like a sewer, and I'm the one who controls the pipe." Pierce continued. </p><p>Parker hummed again.</p><p> "When things are running smoothly, no one pays any attention. But you know what happens when you lose control." Pierce said. </p><p>"It stinks!" Parker exclaimed. </p><p>"Exactly. And I'm the one who ends up with you know what on her face." Pierce continued again, and Parker pulled a disgusted face. </p><p>"So I make it my first priority to make sure all the dung's running in the right direction." Pierce said. </p><p>Kaira walked over as the phone rang and acted like she was helping Parker with the papers. Pierce answered the phone. Pierce handed the mug she had to Parker. </p><p>"Cream..." Pierce stated when Kaira cut her off. </p><p> </p><p>"Six sugars." Kaira smiled. </p><p>"Six sugars, right." Pierce whispered as they left. Kaira heard Sophie answer her phone through the comm. </p><p>"Hello?" Sophie answered the phone. </p><p>"Ms. Tinson? Listen, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. Uh, Mr. Gibson is not gonna be buying your process." Blackwell said. </p><p>"Oh? And why is that?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"Because I'm gonna buy it first. But I'm gonna need a demonstration, if you could, uh... stop by the mine first thing tomorrow?" Blackwell said. </p><p>"Until then." Sophie hung up the phone. </p><p>"He's hooked." Sophie reported. The team finished up their tasks for the day and went back to the hotel for the night. </p><p>The next morning, Sophie and Hardison walked to section c of the mine with Blackwell. </p><p>"Our sonar-detecting technology tells us exactly where the coltan is located." Hardison explained. </p><p>He put the scanner up to the wall and it was beeping very loudly and quickly. </p><p>"Oh. Look at that." Sophie said, impressed as she walked up beside Hardison. </p><p>"There's a very strong presence of coltan in here." Sophie said. </p><p>"Really? Well, this is quite a fancy machine. I...I hope you don't mind if I double check the old fashioned way?" Blackwell said, pulling out the tester chemicals out of his shirt pocket. </p><p>"Uh, coltan's generally found in isolated pockets, so those, uh, surface tests can be very inconclusive." Sophie said. Blackwell started scraping the wall. </p><p>"I'm sure." Blackwell said. </p><p>"Well, we'll see here." Blackwell said. He put the cap on the bottle of scrapings and shook it and the chemical turned green, indicating coltan was indeed on the mine. </p><p>"Oh. Look at that." Blackwell said, impressed. </p><p>"Well, that looks conclusive to me." Sophie said. </p><p>The day before, Eliot and Corey poured a limestone dust laced with coltan all over the wall they were examining, which Corey pointed out looked different. </p><p>Hardison was still scanning an area of the wall, and the scanner was going crazy. </p><p>"Oh, oh. Well, this -- this area right here is lighting up like a Christmas tree. You'll be able to get a good six months out of that vein. And..." Hardison moved the scanner to the left, and the beeping went down. "This area not so much. But this right down here -- now this... you'll be able to put that new addition on your house...and that fishing boat you've been wanting." Hardison explained, causing Blackwell to get excited. </p><p>"That's the beauty of the process -- no more digging blind." Sophie said. </p><p>"Oh. Well, it sounds good... to me." Blackwell said, shaking the chemical surface test again. </p><p>"You know, maybe I'll be able to lay off some of these hillbillies I pay to dig in the dirt all day long here. Mining used to be worthwhile, you know. But, uh, now with the unions and the workers whining all the time about not getting paid enough and they're never safe enough and all -- I mean, it's hard to -- to keep a business and make a buck." Blackwell said. </p><p>Sophie and Hardison tried to keep a straight face. </p><p>"I'm pretty confident, using this process, you'll be able to make quite a few bucks." Sophie pointed out. </p><p>"Well, I'm convinced." Blackwell said, agreeing to the idea. </p><p>"Excellent. Let's talk numbers." Sophie said. Back at the restaurant, Nate was on the laptop, getting info for Sophie. </p><p>"All right. Well, he's got 125,000 liquid... and 500,000 in the PAC." Nate informed Sophie.</p><p>"600,000. We're gonna need it in one payment. We found that installments can get a little bit messy." Sophie said. </p><p>"Of course." Blackwell agreed. </p><p>"By tomorrow. Mr. Gibson was gonna write us a check in the morning. Now, if that's gonna be a problem for you..." Hardison added. </p><p>It was obvious Blackwell didn't like the timetable. </p><p>"No. That's... no problem. I'm having a fundraiser for the Attorney General at the Morgan Club tomorrow. You stop by there, I'll cut you a check." Blackwell agreed to the terms. </p><p>"Perfect." Sophie said. </p><p>"Okay, Eliot. Sophie's done with Blackwell. He's hooked. You can surface." Nate ordered Eliot, who was drinking some water in a break area. </p><p>"Ahh. I don't want to leave these guys one man down." Eliot said. Kaira smiled at herself. Only her Cowboy. </p><p>"Okay. Fine. You can finish the day. But tomorrow, we're gone." Nate told Eliot. He walked over to Corey, who was eating. </p><p>"Paul Revere make that lunchbox?" Eliot joked with Corey. </p><p>"Nope. This was made in 1958. Paul Revere died in the early 1800s." Corey said, obviously missing the joke. Eliot was amused slightly. </p><p>"What? You don't think I know who Paul Revere is?" Corey questioned, getting the joke. </p><p>"All right, smartass." Eliot chuckled back. </p><p>"This was my dad's. Grandpa's before that." Corey revealed. Eliot was kinda taken back with the whole family heirloom story of the lunchbox. Eliot heard a conversation about the scoop and had an idea. </p><p>"You know, you want to be the man of the house... that's the way right there. Future's in the machines. It's faster, it's safer. You want to provide for your family, learn how to use the scoop. I'm just saying. You got a good head for it... Paul Revere." Eliot told Corey, walking away to continue his shift. </p><p>Meanwhile, Parker and Kaira got a faked poll numbers report to show to Pierce to give her confidence. They walked up to her in the hallway, handing her the folder as Pierce handed Parker her mug. </p><p>"You're latest numbers are up." Kaira said, perky.</p><p>"Ooh. Significantly up." Pierce paused. </p><p>"I don't think I ever seen it jump this high." Pierce said, buying it but kinda not. </p><p>"Really?" Parker asked, guiding the question to Hardison. </p><p>"Hey. Nate said to make them higher. How am I supposed to know what's significantly higher and what's insignificantly higher?" Hardison said from the van defending himself. </p><p>Back at the restaurant, Sophie joined Nate at the booth. </p><p>"No, that's fine. W-We just need to her to feel she has a comfortable lead so she'll be fine with Blackwell using the PAC funds." Nate said. parker handed the mug back to Pierce as she kept walking. </p><p>"Well, we must be doing something right." Pierce said. </p><p>"Yeah, must be your latest commercial... or your hair -- people love your hair." Parker said, causing a slight chuckle from Kaira. </p><p>"Really?" Pierce questioned Parker. Parker nodded her head yes as they made their way to the office, where Blackwell was standing at the campaign posters. </p><p>"Hello, Dan." Pierce said, and immediately Kaira sensed this wasn't just a business partner relationship. Blackwell just looked at Pierce. Pierce handed Parker the mug, not looking at her. </p><p>"Refil?" Kaira asked. Pierce pointed out the door, answering the question and Kaira and Parker left. Parker exhaled as they left the office. </p><p>"Blackwell's here, guys. It's happening." Kaira reported. </p><p>Parker and Kaira went to a separate area of the building to listen to the conversation. Blackwell asked if Pierce would give him the funds. </p><p>"No! No way! I have an election coming up. The coltan mine's not gonna do you any good without me in office keeping it from getting shut down!" Pierce argued. </p><p>"If I don't have that money my tomorrow, they're gonna sell this process to Gibson." Blackwell said. "So? Use the mine's money." Pierce argued. </p><p>"The mine doesn't have that sort of liquidity." Blackwell said. </p><p>"You're paying your workers with something, aren't you?" Pierce asked. </p><p>"Yeah. I-I suppose I could take the... money out the payroll. But that would bankrupt the mine." Blackwell said. </p><p>"You say that like it's a bad thing." Pierce pointed out. The team perked up. </p><p>"All right. Here we go." Blackwell said. He dialed a phone. "Clark? Tell the men to not come to work tomorrow. All of 'em. And make sure there's nobody in that mine. And call me back. I got a job of work for you to do." Blackwell said. </p><p>"Well, that's a great day's work. Ugh. Blackwell's shutting down the mine and using the payroll money to pay us." Sophie said. </p><p>Parker and Kaira were in the elevator during the conversation. </p><p>"So we've just bankrupted an entire town." Parke said. </p><p>"Worse. He's not shutting down the mine." Nate said. </p><p>Kaira caught on to what he was saying. </p><p>"He's gonna blow up the damn mine." Kaira realized. </p><p>"That does sound worse." Parker said. </p><p>"You know, working in insurance, I've seen this play a thousand times. And now that we've convinced him he has coltan, his mine is worth more dead than alive." Nate said. </p><p>"Yeah, but he's not gonna have time to get a bomb and plant it in the mine by tomorrow." Parker pointed out. </p><p>"Well, his mine is practically a bomb already. I mean, you could throw a lit cigarette there, and that thing would blow. Won't take much." Nate explained. No one was liking this. </p><p>"What are we gonna do, Nate?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"We're gonna convince him that you're a lying, greedy bitch." Nate told Sophie. </p><p>The team met back at the hotel for the night. Eliot was out of his mining outfit, but his face was a tad dirty when Kaira saw him walk into the hotel room. Eliot went to hug her, but Kaira chuckled as she backed off. </p><p>"Sorry, Cowboy. Get in the shower, then come to bed." Kaira told Eliot. </p><p>Eliot then tackled Kaira, causing them both to laugh as Kaira realized she had coal dust on her comfy clothes. Eliot let once Kaira told him to stop. </p><p>"You did that on purpose to get me in the shower with you." Kaira realized. Eliot raised his eyebrows and smiled. </p><p>"You asshole." Kaira jokingly hit him in the shoulder. </p><p>"Well?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"Hell yeah. Get in." Kaira all but ordered as the couple stripped to go in the shower, which led to, of course, making out. </p><p>The next morning, the team set the plan in motion. Kaira, Parker, and Sophie were at the fundraiser and Eliot, Hardison, and Nate were at the mine. The plan was that Nate was gonna draw Blackwell to the mine as Eliot went inside the mine to find the bomb while Hardison was guiding him. Parker, Kaira's, and Sophie's job was to make sure Pierce was distracted. The boys were ready outside the van. Nate had a coffee cup in his hand. Eliot had a case in his hand.</p><p>"Okay, I'm gonna call Blackwell and draw him here." Nate said, getting out his phone. </p><p>Eliot shut the case and handed it to Hardison. </p><p>"I mean, he's not gonna blow up the mine while he's in it, is he?" Nate said, dialing the phone. </p><p>"That will give us enough time to find the bomb." Eliot said. </p><p>"Oh, yeah. Plenty of time. Meanwhile, I'll be here, in the van, as far away from the mine as possible. My dude. Go with God." Hardison said, extending his hand to give a bro handshake. Eliot went to grab Hardison's hand, but Hardison pulled Eliot into a man hug. </p><p>"What are you doing, man?" Eliot growled, pushing away.</p><p>"For morale, man!" Hardison said. He went back to the van and Eliot started towards the mine.</p><p> "All right, all right. Let's get this show on the road." Nate ordered. "Mr. Blackwell. Uh, yeah, it's, uh, Bob Gibson here." Nate said. Kaira saw Blackwell at a table getting champagne.</p><p>"Mr. Gibson. You calling to concede?" Blackwell asked. </p><p>"No, I'm calling to tell you that we've both been had. Yeah, there's no coltan in your mine or anywhere near it." Nate informed Blackwell. </p><p>"Ah, I should have pegged you for a sore loser." Blackwell said, starting to walk amongst the crowd as Kaira stayed near. </p><p>"Well, listen, I can prove it to you. Just meet at the mine in 15 minutes." Nate said. </p><p>"N-- the mine's not a good idea. Now maybe we can meet somewhere el--" Nate hung up the phone, and started walking to the mine. </p><p>Kaira caught Blackwell leaving, talking to Clark about the device. Kaira also saw Sophie and Parker walking down the steps. </p><p>"He's on his way to you now." Sophie reported. </p><p>"All right. While they deal with Blackwell, we've got to spook Pierce." Sophie said. </p><p>"On it. So we need ghosts." Parker said, missing the point, walking towards where Kaira was.</p><p> "No. We need secrets. We've got to get her to move the money out of the PAC. " Sophie said. she grabbed a champagne glass and walked over to Kaira. </p><p>"Right." Kaira said, starting to join them. </p><p>"Tell me everything  you know about her." Sophie said. Parker got out her notebook. </p><p>"Okay. I've got some really good stuff in here. Okay, she likes sugar in her coffee -- lots of sugar. And she hides tasty treats in her desk. She's got a sweet tooth -- maybe we could use that."  Parker said. </p><p>"Probably not. What else?" Sophie said. Kaira thought a minute. </p><p>"Wait, didn't Pierce have a meeting with Blackwell on Thursday?" Kaira asked. </p><p>Parker flipped to the page in her notebook. </p><p>"Yeah. She had a closed-door meeting with Blackwell, but... it sounded like they were working out." Parker said, about causing Kaira to choke on her champagne. </p><p>"Working out?" Sophie questioned, getting the same idea Kaira had. </p><p>"Mm-hmm." Parker confirmed. </p><p>"Hardison, do you still have the audio file saved?" Sophie asked Hardison in her comm. </p><p>"Yeah. But there's like 100 hours of it. I-I haven't listened to it all yet." Hardison said. </p><p>"No. Just pull up the files from Thursday afternoon." Sophie said. </p><p>"Between 3:26 and 4:15." Parker narrowed it down. </p><p>"Okay. One second." Hardison said. </p><p>The audio the played was definitely not of them working out, and Kaira nearly choked again on her champagne as Hardison quickly shut off the audio. </p><p>"Parker, they're not working out. They're... you know." Sophie pointed out. </p><p>Parker didn't get the memo. </p><p>"Sex, Parker! They're knocking boots." Hardison had to explain. </p><p>"Oh. Yeah. Can you use that?" Parker asked Sophie. Kaira smirked a tad. </p><p>"Oh, I think Sophie could get quite creative with that." Kaira looked at Sophie. </p><p>Sophie confirmed Kaira's words and took a sip of champagne. </p><p>"Hey, look, y'all, this has been really cool, but I have to get back to, you know, helping Eliot find the bomb." Hardison said, going back to looking at the graphs in front of him. </p><p>Eliot was in the mine, pulling out the oxygen meter. </p><p>"I'm switching out the oxygen meter." Eliot reported, and did. </p><p>"All right, man. Look, I've hacked into their monitoring system to detect peaks in any heat or methane levels to show us where Clark planted the bomb." Hardison said. </p><p>"Where's it at?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"No idea. This thing runs like an Atari. It's great if you want to play "Frogger", but to find a bomb?" Hardison explained. </p><p>"While your playing video games, I'm gonna still be looking for the bomb. If you decide to be helpful, let me know." Eliot said, continuing the search. </p><p>Meanwhile, at the fundraiser, Sophie walked up to Pierce. </p><p>"Oh, Ms. Pierce, I was hoping to steal a minute of your time. I've heard so much about you." Sophie said. </p><p>"Of course, Ms..." Pierce said to Sophie. </p><p>"Oh, Tinson. Eloise Tinson." Sophie introduced herself. </p><p>"Oh, right. The coltan woman. Huh?" Pierce realized. </p><p>"In the flesh. I have to say, it's been such a delight working with Danny." Sophie said, setting the bait for her story. </p><p>Pierce looked at Sophie and chuckled. "You mean Mr. Blackwell." Pierce corrected. </p><p>"Of course. You know, the addition of this coltan mine is gonna do wonders for the state, and I wanted to thank you personally for your contribution." Sophie said, walking with Pierce. Pierce chuckled again. </p><p>"I'm sorry? My contribution?" Pierce questioned. </p><p>"Well, there's no need to be modest. It's your money. Or is it the PAC money? I never quite got that straight." Sophie said, egging Pierce along. </p><p>"Well, that's odd, because yesterday he told me he was using the mine funds for the purchase." Pierce pointed out. </p><p>"Oh, no. That's not what he said last night. Or was it this morning?" Sophie smiled a bit, acting embarrassed a bit.</p><p>As she started chuckling. "Time got a bit blurred. Regardless, I'm pretty confident he said he was using the PAC money and that he was gonna make the transfer today. So.. thank you. Thank you so much." Sophie said, leaving. </p><p>Parker and Kaira walked up to Pierce. "Great turnout." Parker complimented Pierce as she got out her cell phone. </p><p>"Can I get you anything?" Parker asked, perky. </p><p>Pierce sighed as she saw the money transfer was pending. </p><p>"What's wrong?" Kaira asked, playing innocent. </p><p>"That thieving, cheating bastard!" Pierce said, not happy. </p><p>Back at the mine, Blackwell and Nate walked to the wall that had been coated. "You know, being down here isn't such a good idea." Blackwell argued. </p><p>"Well, I had the coltan reports looked at off-site, and I got to tell you the results were confusing." Nate explained. </p><p>"Well, uh, maybe we could talk about this above ground." Blackwell said. </p><p>"Section C is clear." Eliot reported, still making his rounds. Nate took a scrapping from the wall.</p><p>"Now if you take a little bit off the surface here, right? It indicated the presence... of coltan. Right?" Nate showed the green liquid to Blackwell. </p><p>"Yeah." Blackwell said. Nate scrapped the same spot. </p><p>"All right. Now I'm just gonna go a little deeper here." Nate chuckled as he showed the clear vial to Blackwell. "Nothing." Nate said. </p><p>"Those bastards salted my mine." Blackwell realized. </p><p>"Yeah, they almost took your money, too." Nate said. </p><p>"Wait, wait, wait, wait. I-I think I got something, man." Hardison told Eliot. </p><p>"There are anomalies in the levels in the northeast quadrant." Hardison reported as Eliot rounded the corner of the mine shaft. </p><p>"Speak English!" Eliot growled. </p><p>"Turn right. Find bomb." Hardison said simply. </p><p>Eliot saw Corey's lunchbox hanging from the rope. </p><p>"He's here." Eliot said. </p><p>"Who?" Hardison asked. </p><p>"Corey." Eliot said, getting worried. </p><p>"Cor-- Look, man. Unless that's a cute little name you got for the bomb, I'm compelled to remind you of your mission. Find the bomb. Dismantle. Save lives." Hardison told Eliot. </p><p>"Yeah. I'm on it. All right? Just stop talking!" Eliot growled as he went down the mine. </p><p>"Eliot?" Hardison called. </p><p>In another part of the mine. Blackwell took another sample just to be sure, and it wasn't coltan.</p><p>"I don't believe they tried to pull one over on me." Blackwell said as Nate paced. </p><p>"Actually, I do believe they did pull one over on you. That was me who figured out what's was they were up to." Nate said. </p><p>"I don't have time to discuss this. We got to get the hell out of here." Blackwell said. </p><p>Then the lightbulbs started crackling and then part of the wall exploded, sending debris to Nate and Blackwell, and the whole mine shook. Nate put his head up and looked around once things settled. </p><p>"Eliot. Hardison. Kiddo." Nate called quietly. </p><p>"You there? Hello?" Nate called out again, realizing the comms were down. </p><p>"Nate. Nate, are you there?" Hardison called out, knowing Nate's comm went offline. </p><p>"Eliot?" Hardison got the hitter's attention. </p><p>"I'm here." Eliot stopped. </p><p>"I-I've lost Nate." Hardison reported. </p><p>Kaira acted like she had to get a call and went to the side. </p><p>"What you do mean you've lost Nate?" Sophie questioned. </p><p>"I don't know. His comm is down. You need to get down here." Hardison said. </p><p>Kaira tried not to panic. "Parker, Kaira, meet me at the car now." Sophie ordered. </p><p>"One second." Parker said, over by Pierce. Kaira saw Pierce on the phone. </p><p>"That takes care of that. I need you to get new keys made for my office and call security." Pierce ordered. Parker acted like she was writing it down. </p><p>"I don't want Dan Blackwell stepping foot in that building." Pierce said, obviously not happy with the fact Blackwell "cheated" on her. </p><p>"Yes, ma'am." Parker said. Eliot found Corey. </p><p>"What the hell was that? Sounded like something collapsed." Corey asked Eliot. </p><p>"What are you doing down here?" Eliot asked Corey, almost scolding him. </p><p>"Doing what you told me to do. Figured now was a good time to work on the machinery, since no one's here." Corey said.</p><p>"That's using your head. Sorta. You shouldn't be down here doing this alone. Come one. We got to go. Go!" Eliot lead Corey down the shaft. </p><p>Meanwhile, Nate and Blackwell got up and Nate started coughing. </p><p>"What the hell happened?" Nate asked. </p><p>"I don't know. Explosion of some kind." Blackwell said, leaning against the beam. </p><p>"Well, you got yourself a nice little deathtrap here. Don't you?" Nate said, losening his tie. </p><p>"Well, we wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't insisted on dragging us down here for some science experiment." Blackwell tried to blame Nate. </p><p>"You want to point fingers or do you want to -- you want to get us out of here, huh?" Nate argued. "There's no way out! Somebody's gonna have to find us!" Blackwell exclaimed, obviously not happy. </p><p>Back at the fundraiser, Kaira stayed to the side, blending in as Pierce approached Sophie. "I don't like anybody leaving my parties in such a hurry." Pierce said, threateningly. </p><p>"There's been an accident at the mine. Dan's trapped. We have to get over there." Sophie argued. </p><p>"So let the cheating bastard suffocate. I'm not letting either of you steal my money." Pierce said, canceling the transaction. </p><p>"Nobody's trying to steal your money." Sophie tried to get out of this. </p><p>"I know when I'm being played. I'm just gonna put this money where no one can get to it." Pierce said, transferring the money back into the account. </p><p>"Fine. It's just money. We need to get over there." Sophie argued. </p><p>Sophie tried to leave, but Pierce stopped her. Kaira started walking towards them. </p><p>"If I were you, I'd worry about yourself. Someone as pretty as you is not gonna do well in one of our prisons. Our women -- they don't take kindly to outsiders." Pierce threatened Sophie. </p><p>"Yeah? What do you mean by that?" Sophie said, not backing down. </p><p>"Oh, I called the cops. They should be here any minute to arrest you on fraud, racketeering, and impersonating a federal officer." Pierce continued. </p><p>"You can't get me arrested." Sophie argued. </p><p>Pierce laughed. </p><p>"Sure, I can. It's one of the perks of being an attorney general. I own the law." Pierce threatened Sophie. </p><p>"Debra, we're on the same side here. Dan deceived us both." Sophie argued, staying calm. </p><p>"No. You both deceived me. Now, I am done being lied to." Pierce got in Sophie's face.</p><p>Parker got Pierce's attention, making her turn, allowing for Kaira to get Sophie out of the building. </p><p>"Oh. I have a phone call for you." Parker said. </p><p>"Not now. Not now!" Pierce brushed her off. </p><p>"Oh." Parker said.Pierce saw that Sophie was gone and gasped. </p><p>"Damn it. Now look what you did!" Pierce yelled at Parker as she anserwed her phone. Pierce told the Sargent to meet her at the mine. </p><p>Just as Eliot and Corey made it the open part of the mine, Clark found them. </p><p>"Hey! What are you doing in here?" Clark asked. He walked over to the wall and grabbed a pickaxe. </p><p>"We, uh... we left a couple of things and..." Eliot tried to brush off as Clark inched towards them.</p><p>"Yeah? Well, the mine's closed." Clark said. </p><p>"Right." Eliot took off his helmet and belt and grabbed a pickaxe. </p><p>"Go." Eliot whispered to Corey. </p><p>"But..." Corey tried to argue. </p><p>"Go!" Eliot shoved Corey and he left, sizing up Clark. </p><p>In the closed in part of the mine, Blackwell was looking at the oxygen meter. </p><p>"How much oxygen we got?" Nate asked. </p><p>"19%" Blackwell said. </p><p>"19? Well, it drops below 15, we're goners! Both of us in the room, we only got about two hours." Nate said, walking to the comm system. </p><p>"You're right. We only have two hours." Blackwell said, getting quiet. </p><p>Clark swung the pickaxe, and Eliot used the handle to black the handle and got the pickaxe away from him. Eliot dodged a swing and got rid of his pickaxe and grabbed Clarks before he could swing again, sending it to the ground. Eliot then elbowed Clark, sending him back. Eliot once again dodged a swing, and Clark dodged Eliot's, causing the pick to get stuck. Eliot fought off Clark and sent him back again. He used his elbow to break the ax part off the pickaxe, holding just the handle. Nate messed with the comm box. </p><p>"Say, uh, what about, uh, this intercom? I mean, can't we, uh..." Nate started hitting the button.</p><p>"You know, call for help for something?" Nate questioned. </p><p>Blackwell sighed as he sat down in front of a support beam. </p><p>"No, you can't radio out. It don't work." Blackwell said. </p><p>"What do you mean?" Nate asked. Blackwell chuckled. </p><p>"You got all that money. I mean, you got new intercoms. You got new, uh, ceiling supports. You got new retrofit ventilation. I mean, I saw the paperwork." Nate said, walking towards Blackwell. </p><p>"It's all fake." Blackwell revealed. </p><p>"Oh, h-hold on there. What do you mean, it's all fake?" Nate questioned. </p><p>"Well, the ceiling support and the ventilation and the intercom -- that's all fake. The only safety measures that that money bought went to the Attorney General. All the government money went to her." Blackwell started chuckling, realizing he was caught. </p><p>"Is that right?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Great investment." Nate said. </p><p>"Yeah." Blackwell said. Nate turned around. </p><p>"Well, there's got to be a way out of here, right?" Nate asked. </p><p>Just then, Blackwell knocked Nate out. Eliot was still fighting Clark, breaking the handle across his neck. Just then, Eliot went up to the blockage. Eliot started clearing it as Blackwell called for Clark. </p><p>"Mr. Blackwell! It's Eric! Eric Randall! I'm almost through! can you squeeze?" Eliot said, clearing out a way for Blackwell to get out. </p><p>Blackwell came through. Kaira watched from the back of the van as Blackwell was arrested and the bomb was pulled out of his pocket. Kaira thought back to earlier. Eliot was still looking for the mine and Kaira was off to the side at the party. </p><p>"All right, Eliot. I think I got a lock on the bomb." Hardison said. Eliot had pulled the bomb out and looked at it as Kaira held her breath. </p><p>"I got it." Eliot said. He looked at it. "What's it look like, man? Red wires, blue wires? What" Hardison asked. Apparently, the bomb was simple, and Eliot just simply turned it off. </p><p>"Boom!" Eliot yelled, causing Kaira to jump. Hardison laughed, then dropped it. </p><p>"You're not funny." Hardison said. </p><p>Eliot started laughing. </p><p>"You mother f-- you're an asshole, Eliot." Kaira scolded Eliot as she calmed down. </p><p>When Eliot was getting Blackwell out of the cave-in, he planted the bomb on him. </p><p>When Blackwell was about to go in the car, Kaira flashed back to Hardison having micro detonators, surround sound, dust spray, modified oxygen meters, which was gonna be used to fake a cave-in. </p><p>Also, just before the explosion happened, Hardison warned Nate that he had to stay to the right of the X, and he was fine. Hardison was also the one controlling the oxygen meters. What Blackwell also didn't know was that before his confession, Nate got the comm back up. It played over the intercom system. </p><p>The cop car pulled away as Nate and Eliot joined the rest of the team. Kaira waved as Pierce saw them, realizing who she was. </p><p>"Nailed it." Parker said. </p><p>Kaira remembered getting Pierce to transfer the money into the "Tomorrow's Women" account. Kaira was glad to see Nate and Eliot. </p><p>"Pierce transferred all the PAC funds into Parker's account." Sophie explained. </p><p>"Nicely done." Hardison complimented. </p><p>"Well, I had a little help from Sophie and Kaira. But yeah. I'm a grifter. I grift." Parker complimented herself. </p><p>"You did amazing, Parker." Kaira complimented Parker. </p><p>"Yeah. You do know you don't get to keep the money, right?" Nate questioned Parker. </p><p>Parker looked at her phone, then to Nate. </p><p>"Don't ruin it." Parker said. </p><p>Parker and Hardison walked to the van as Kaira hugged Eliot, causing Eliot to chuckle. </p><p>Kaira let go. Eliot brushed his fingers against her face, getting dust on her face. </p><p>"You got a little-" Eliot said, trying to brush off the dirt, but only smearing it. </p><p>"Asshole." Kaira smiled at Eliot and kissed him. Eliot then left as Kaira hugged Nate, glad he ended up okay. Kaira then walked over to where Eliot went and saw him walking to Corey. Kaira joined with Eliot and put her arm around him as Corey walked up to him. </p><p>"Who are you? Really." Corey asked. </p><p>"We're friends of Troy." Eliot said. </p><p>"We came to make the mine safer." Kaira added. </p><p>"So you're leaving?" Corey questioned. </p><p>"Yeah, I'm leaving." Eliot revealed. </p><p>Corey was sad. </p><p>"But you got a bunch of good ol' boys here to watch your back for you. You remember what I told you." Eliot said. Eliot tapped Corey's helmet. </p><p>"Use that head. Keep you safe." Eliot told Corey. </p><p>"I will." Corey agreed. </p><p>"Good. That way, I don't have to come back here and whup your ass." Eliot warned, causing Kaira to chuckle. Eliot extended his hand for a handshake, and Corey grabbed his hand, and pushed into Eliot. Except for this time, Eliot just let it happen, putting his arm on Corey's back and patting it a couple of times. </p><p>"All right." Eliot whispered, letting go. Corey looked emotional as he walked away. Kaira grabbed Eliot's hand and walked with him back to the van. </p><p>The team left and went to bed for the night. </p><p>The next day, Nate, Kaira, and Eliot told Troy to meet him at the office. Plans were out on the table as Troy walked in. </p><p>"Welcome to your new office." Nate said. </p><p>Troy started chuckling. "Excuse me?" Troy chuckled, not believing it. </p><p>"After Blackwell was arrested, the board removed him as CEO and made you mine supervisor." Nate said. </p><p>"Now everybody's safety is in your hands." Eliot said. Troy exhaled, ready to accept the responsibility. </p><p>"Well, I-I'll do my best." Troy said. </p><p>Kaira grabbed a check that was on the desk and handed it to Troy. </p><p>"This should help." Kaira said. Troy grabbed the check and looked at it, then to Kaira. </p><p>"Where'd this come from?" Troy asked. </p><p>"It's the Federal safety money that Blackwell was supposed to use to fix the mine. Blackwell gave it to Pierce, and she more or less gave it to us, and now it's yours." Kaira explained. </p><p>"Now you can buy safety equipment that actually works." Eliot said. </p><p>"Hey. Thank you so much." Troy said. Kaira brushed it off. </p><p>"All right. Well, we'll let you get to it." Nate said, going to leave. </p><p>They shook hands. Nate stopped at the door and looked at Eliot, who shook hands with Troy. </p><p>"Listen, do me a favor. Watch out for Corey for me." Eliot said. </p><p>"Will do." Troy agreed. </p><p>"All right." Eliot went to join Kaira at the door and turned back. "You should put him on the scoop. He's got a knack for it." Eliot said. </p><p>Troy nodded his head in agreement as they left. </p><p>The team cleaned up their trail and went back to home base. Kaira and Eliot were laying in bed, her head on his shoulder. Kaira could tell Eliot was thinking about something. Kaira put her hand on his cheek and looked at him. </p><p>"Baby, what are you thinking about?" Kaira asked. Eliot looked at Kaira. </p><p>"Corey. Just talking with him, he reminded me of a lot of you." Eliot smiled at Kaira. </p><p>"Really?" Kaira questioned. Eliot smiled. </p><p>"Yeah." Eliot said quietly. He put his hand around her waist. </p><p>"Could you imagine having a kid?" Kaira asked. </p><p>Eliot smiled and looked at Kaira. </p><p>"Kids?" Eliot questioned. </p><p>"Yeah." Kaira said. </p><p>"I can imagine it, yeah." Eliot smiled. </p><p>"Me too. Could you imagine having mini me's runnin' around?" Kaira chuckled. </p><p>"God, we really need more of me around?" Eliot chuckled. </p><p>"That wouldn't be so bad." Kaira smiled. </p><p>"Someday." Eliot said. </p><p>"Someday." Kaira whispered. </p><p>"Deal?" Eliot asked, smiling at Kaira. </p><p>"Deal." Kaira said, smiling and chuckling as she kissed Eliot. They let go and looked at each other. </p><p>"You're still an asshole." Kaira muttered. Eliot chuckled. </p><p>"Hell yeah." Eliot muttered. </p><p>Kaira chuckled. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Here is the chapterly Leverage edit!</p><p>https://youtu.be/zLwn5a2tA6s</p><p>Remember to give kudos and share this story with your friends! Much love to you all! Stay safe!<br/>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. The Rashomon Job (3x11)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>During a night looking at the news at the bar, our favorite group of thieves discovers something interesting... 5 years ago they were all going after the same object -- the dagger of Aqu'Abi. It's a night of mystery and storytelling as each member of the team recounts the night in question, with Nate as the moderator, deciding which person is telling the truth.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! I'm excited about this chapter, as this episode was funny, and set up interestingly. The whole episode should be interesting to get out there. I wanna thank you all for the love on this series! I can't believe this series is doing as well as it is. So, thank you. With that out of the way, here we are with chapter 11 of season 3.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Kaira got everyone drinks at the bar before closing and turned on the news, she didn't expect that the team would start arguing about who stole the dagger of Aqu'Abi. Nate came in and yelled at the team as he walked behind the bar. Eliot was sitting on a barstool, Kaira behind, and Sophie, Hardison, and Parker were standing. Someone handed the keys to Nate so he could close. </p><p>"What is this? I thought we were supposed to, uh, finding Moreau." Nate said, walking to the back of the bar. </p><p>"This is more important." Sophie said. </p><p>"More important? We don't find Moreau, I might go back to prison forever." Nate said, walking back to the bar with a drink.</p><p>"Oh, shush. You did fine in prison the first time." Sophie brushed it off, causing a chuckle from Kaira. </p><p>"You got into shape." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"Yeah, you look good in a jumpsuit." Parker added. </p><p>"Learned how to hypnotize people." Hardison said, remembering that job. </p><p>"Became less of a bastard." Kaira said, getting a glare from Nate. </p><p>"We're talking about the Dagger of Aqu'Abi." Sophie told Nate. </p><p>"Oh." Nate muttered, pouring his drink. </p><p>Sophie paused the newsreel on the tv. "The Dagger of Aqu'Abi -- 10th century, four perfect emeralds, six rubies, gold filigree." Sophie explained, looking at the tv. </p><p>"It was a gift from a Shah of Persia to a Sultan." Hardison explained. </p><p>"Two dead guys. Whatever." Eliot said. </p><p>"And why are we--" Nate said when Sophie shushed him. </p><p>"That's why." Sophie unpaused the newsreel, where it was revealed to be on display at the Boston Museum of Art and Antiquities for the first time since it was stolen five years ago. Sophie paused the newsreel again and Parker sat next to Kaira. </p><p>"That. Stolen. Five years ago." Sophie said when all the team, minus Nate and Parker, said "I stole it!" Kaira growled and Parker put her hand on her face, groaning and Hardison looked away. </p><p>The team looked at them, amused. </p><p>"O-okay, okay, okay, okay. The Dagger of Aqu'Abi? On display at the Boston Museum of Art and Antiquities? Stolen five years ago? You were all there that night?" Nate questioned the team. </p><p>"We didn't realize it until these guys all started bitching when the show came on." Kaira said, looking at the team. </p><p>"And when I started telling them about one of my finest jobs ever..." Sophie said, going behind the bar and beside Nate. </p><p>"Yeah, but I know she's lying." Eliot said. </p><p>"She's a grifter. It's her job." Hardison said. </p><p>"Wait, I'm confused. Now she's lying about lying?" Parker questioned, confused. </p><p>"No, no, no. Wait, I've got an idea. We let Nate decide. We tell him what happened that night, and he decided who the real criminal is." Sophie suggested. </p><p>"Fine by me." Eliot said. </p><p>"Well, I mean, you're all criminals." Nate pointed out. "Me, I got no choice." Nate said. He looked at Sophie, signaling her version was first. </p><p>"You understand -- it was the perfect plan. I ran a long con for the entire four months of the exhibit. Two -- not one -- but two separate identities." Sophie explained. </p><p>"Grifter" </p><p>Sophie started talking about her first identity, the Duchess Alexia of Barrington-Highsworth. She donated pieces that she stole to get closer to the dagger. </p><p>Then she mentioned Edgar Gladstone. A financier, and rich. He owns the dagger and had a crush on Alexia. Just as she was flirting with Gladstone to get closer to the dagger, Coswell, the museum's Head of Security interrupted. Sophie said she had to avoid him. Sophie used the chat Gladstone had with Coswell to look for Minister Robert Bioko, a Zimbabwe Art Minister, and a nasty one. Had a reputation as a blood diamond dealer, embezzler, and happened to be allergic to shrimp. </p><p>She put shrimp juice in the champagne she had sent over to Bioko. </p><p>She ran into a Dr. Wes Abernathy, a surgeon. He was there because he had fundraised for the museum with a friend who he pointed out, drinking by a table, looking at Abernathy and Sophie sensed something was going on between them. According to Sophie, Dr. Abernathy was a flirt. </p><p>Then the power surged, and when it came back on, Bioko was choking. </p><p>Sophie sniffed the champagne glass and realized that he was allergic to shrimp, and Abernathy treated him by sending over a blond waiter who handed him a knife and went to save him as </p><p>Sophie grab a keycard from Gladstone's pocket to get into the shipping and storage area and leave. Sophie left and went into a storage closet to change into her next identity, Dr. Karen Ipcress. She used the identity to get into the restoration department and used an American accent. </p><p>Coswell came down to say that they had to process the exhibit was closed due to a medical emergency. According to Sophie, Coswell was a bit of a hard ass and said Icress looked like the Duchess. </p><p>Coswell left, leaving Sophie to switch the labels so the dagger made it to the Duchess's address. Apparently, Coswell came back with a shotgun and thought she was being hunted and had to get out. </p><p>"Brilliant, isn't it?" Sophie asked the team. </p><p>"Ahh..." Hardison breathed, impressed. </p><p>"Well, you -- you didn't steal the dagger." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"The museum stole the dagger for me. You see, first, every item is cataloged. And Gladstone's dagger is placed into one of the crates containing my personal collection. Then the crate is shipped directly to the safe house in London... all under armed guard provided by... the museum." Sophie said. </p><p>"Yeah, that's a good plan." Nate complimented. </p><p>"Yes. It was the perfect plan." Sophie said. The team felt the "but" moment coming. "Except... the dagger wasn't in the shipment." Sophie revealed. </p><p>Eliot mocked gasped as Kaira lightly smacked him. </p><p>"So, yes, wait -- I did steal the dagger. I just didn't get to keep it." Sophie said. </p><p>Kaira downed her shot, chuckling as she put the glass down and Eliot stood up. </p><p>"I think I can explain it." Eliot said. </p><p>"And so can I." Kaira smiled as Eliot held his hair in a ponytail and held up the two shot glasses like glasses. </p><p>"Pardon me, ma'am. Did I get that on your dress?" Eliot said, he put the glasses down. </p><p>"Yeah." Kaira smiled as Sophie realized. </p><p>"No!" Sophie exclaimed, realizing that Eliot was Dr. Wes Abernathy. </p><p>Eliot grabbed a beer and looked at Sophie. </p><p>"Now, I'm gonna tell you how I stole the Aqu'Abi dagger." Eliot said. </p><p>Kaira stood up. "And me." Kaira said, standing beside Eliot.</p><p>Eliot walked away. They got the chairs up and cleaned. The team moved to a booth, and Kaira sat on Eliot's lap as he poured two glasses of whiskey. </p><p>"A dagger doesn't really seem your styles." Nate pointed out at the couple. </p><p>"Yeah. Well, it was more of a favor." Eliot said. "And our first job together once I was discharged from the army." Kaira said. </p><p>"Hitter and Jack-of-Trades" </p><p>Eliot started talking about how was at some warehouse and he took out some guys and pushed one against the wall and answered a cell phone. Gutman was the guy on the phone's name. Apparently, the guys were thugs sent to kill him. Eliot revealed that he was supposed to give him a sapphire monkey, but it was in North Korea. Gutman offered a trade. Get the dagger, or he'll keep sending guys after Eliot and Kaira.</p><p>Kaira revealed that Eliot had called her and they hit the museum that night. Eliot threatened the real Wes Abernathy and got his clothes, keys, glasses, and invite. Kaira got hers by lifting an invite from some woman. </p><p>Since the items were getting shipped out later, it meant it was the perfect target. And the transport from the museum to the vehicles made it an ideal target. </p><p>Kaira decided to be on the lookout for Eliot, calling out people and things of concern.</p><p>Eliot got some champagne from a blond-haired waitress and bumped into Sophie. Apparently, Eliot said that Sophie had a Cockney accent and was flirting with Eliot. Eliot said what it sounded like she said. </p><p>"Wait, wait. What's that voice? That's horrib -- what is that?" Sophie questioned. </p><p>Kaira chuckled. </p><p>"It's your accent." Eliot said. </p><p>"That's what I sound like to you?" Sophie asked the team. </p><p>Hardison chuckled and Kaira smiled. </p><p>"I think it was more British." Kaira thought a minute. </p><p>"I want to go back and change my story." Sophie said. </p><p>Sophie changed it so Eliot had a southern accent and was not how he described it. </p><p>"Wait, wait, wait. What -- wait. What was that?" Eliot asked, offended. </p><p>Hardison started chuckling and so did Kaira. </p><p>"That's ridiculous. Shut up." Eliot pointed at Hardison. "Sweetheart." Eliot growled at Kaira. </p><p>"You weren't that southern." Kaira explained. </p><p>Eliot turned to Sophie. "Sophie, you told your story. It's mine and my wife's turn to tell ours, okay?" Eliot told Sophie off. </p><p>"Well, it's not fair." Sophie whined. </p><p>The husband and wife continued the story. Both Eliot and Kaira said that Eliot was chatting up Sophie when the electricity surged. Sophie patted Eliot on the cheek a couple of times, then Bioko started choking and having an allergic reaction. </p><p>Since Eliot was supposed to play a doctor, Kaira urged him to help. Eliot was handed a similar knife to what Sophie described, and Kaira and Eliot helped him into the hallway and into the medical bay. Bioko was okay and Eliot and Kaira left down the hallway and heard Coswell talking to Sophie as Ipcress. </p><p>They hid and Eliot took down the guard, locking him in a storage closet. Though, when Coswell came back, it wasn't with a shotgun, it was a long box. He asked Eliot and Kaira if they saw her and they said no, though Kaira just shook her head no. </p><p>Kaira and Eliot then got into the shipping area when they shipped out the packages and got in the back and opened up the box, pulling out the box the dagger was supposed to be in. </p><p>"You stole it! You two stole it from me!" Sophie exclaimed. </p><p>"Yes, we did." Eliot said, smiling at Kaira. </p><p>"Well, technically, you didn't have it." Hardison looked at Sophie. </p><p>"It was en route. That's like stealing my mail." Sophie said. </p><p>"What is stealing mail a crime?" Parker asked. </p><p>The team looked at her. </p><p>Sophie looked back at the couple. </p><p>"Your little smash-and-grab ruined my perfect plan." Sophie said, sipping her drink. </p><p>"Well, whatever it takes to get the job done, babe." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"Well, you didn't exactly get the job "done", did you?" Hardison questioned. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira looked at each other, confirming they didn't get it. </p><p>"So, you didn't get it? What happened to the guys who you owed money to?" Parker asked. </p><p>"Well, Gutman had a lot of enemies." Eliot said. "Last I heard, they rolled him on some kind of racketeering charge a couple of weeks later." Kaira said. </p><p>"Took the heat off of us. Pretty much forgot about that till tonight." Eliot said, looking at Kaira, realizing how things have changed for them. </p><p>"So, I-I steal the dagger from the museum, the lovebirds steal the dagger from my truck. Well, then who..." Sophie said when Hardison started laughing. </p><p>Hardison kept laughing, taunting Eliot, and left. </p><p>"Uh, Hardison, is there something you want to share with the class?" Nate asked, causing Hardison to turn towards them. </p><p>They went over by the dartboard. Kaira was watching Hardison and Eliot play darts as Parker used a small crumpled paper ball and cups to figure out what happened. </p><p>"Okay, Sophie has it first." Parker put the ball under the middle cup. "Then Eliot and Kaira have it." Parker moved the cups. "Or does Eliot have it? Sophie never had it." Parker revealed the middle cup to be empty. "And then we have Hardison." Parker moved the cup to the side and lifted it, seeing the cup was empty. </p><p>"I don't buy it." Nate said. Hardison looked at Nate. "Doesn't seem like your kind of crime." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"No, not typically. But the museum had just installed a Tanuki security system straight from Japan." Hardison said. </p><p>"Tanuki. Not bad. Tough system." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"Yeah. It's got a sick encryption system that protects both the database and the alarm. Now, five years ago, whoever cracked that first was gonna be like a hacker legend, man. But to prove I did it, I was gonna need a trophy first." Hardison said. </p><p>"Hacker" </p><p>Hardison revealed that how he got in the building was he stole a random dignitary's invite. His cover was Minister Robert Bioko. He then used his phone to tell his computer at his nana's house, though he passed it off like it was his house, to execute a brute-force attack against the Tanuki's firewall. Hardison then had to wait until the firewall was soft enough and used the time to flirt with girls. </p><p>According to Hardison, Sophie was all over Eliot. Hardison took a picture of them, which Kaira threatened to not kick his ass if he showed her the photo and got rid of it. </p><p>Then, the power surge was the Tanuki system resetting. Hardison then faked an allergic reaction, asking for a back room. Apparently, Sophie had a Scottish accent and mentioned the shrimp. </p><p>"You really can't tell? Americans! Every accent sounds the same to you. I-I just... I'm sorry. Go on. I -- I sound like one of the dwarves from "The Lord of the Rings", but please continue." Sophie said, not happy. </p><p>Hardison continued, saying Sophie was the one who said that Bioko was allergic to shrimp, which Hardison didn't realize. And Eliot threw him back and had a big knife in his hand. Hardison said he took something he said were pills. </p><p>"Wait a minute, those weren't pills?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"No, man, they were breath mints. You were about to slice a hole in my throat. I had to think of something." Hardison said. </p><p>"That explains it." Eliot said.</p><p> Hardison then went on to say that both Kaira and Eliot helped him back and that Eliot smelt peppermint. Of course, Eliot said it was a distinctive smell and pulled out a big knife. Apparently, Eliot threatened Hardison and was creepy when the couple left. </p><p>Hardison did leave and access the computer and hacked into the shipping information. Hardison changed it so the dagger never left the museum. But when he went to the storage closet and hacked the lock, Coswell found Hardison, which he brushed off as patrolling. He showed Hardison a folder with a picture of Sophie as Ipcress. </p><p>And apparently, Coswell really liked his job. Then the guy that Eliot and Kaira stuffed in the closet came out with shorts and a white tank top on and Hardison left, pushing Coswell and the guy back into the storage closet as he grabbed a walkie-talkie. Hardison went into the vault, and when he opened the safe the dagger was in. Sophie scoffed. </p><p>"I don't believe it." Sophie said. </p><p>"I beat you." Hardison pointed at Sophie. </p><p>"And I beat you, too." Hardison pointed at Eliot. "And I beat you, little sis." Hardison pointed at Kaira, causing her to scoff. "And nothing else matters." Hardison said, smiling. </p><p>"Why does nothing else matter?" Nate asked. </p><p>Kaira chuckled, seeing the look on Hardison's face. "The safe was empty." Kaira realized.</p><p>Hardison confirmed it. </p><p>"Ha!" Sophie exclaimed. </p><p>Eliot smiled. "I knew it." Eliot said. </p><p>"Hey! Still beat you!" Hardison said as Eliot laughed. "Nothing else matters! And you two, y'all -- y'all were nasty. I remember that." Hardison said, pointing to Eliot and Sophie. </p><p>"Really? I'd think I'd remember if my husband was grinding against another woman." Kaira snickered as Eliot and Sophie got uncomfortable. "Uh, what are you -- this -- he's lying, man, because -- look, somebody took the dagger out of the museum that night." Eliot said. </p><p>"All right." Nate grabbed the cups. He held one up. "Now, Sophie didn't have the dagger." Nate put the cup down and grabbed the middle cup. "Eliot and Kaira didn't have the dagger." Nate put the cup down and grabbed the next in line. "Hardison didn't have the dagger." Nate put the cup down. </p><p>"Still beat you." Hardison muttered to Eliot. </p><p>The team had a moment of realization that Parker was silent yet, and held out the crumpled piece of paper. </p><p>"Yeah." Parker said.</p><p>The team all looked at her, with Kaira the only one not surprised. </p><p>"What?! I'm a thief!" Parker exclaimed. </p><p>"Thief" </p><p>Parker revealed she was a waiter. Her gear was underneath the refreshments table next to the ventilation shaft. She waited until a distraction happened, then she was going to get downstairs and wait for the dagger to be out in the open. Apparently, Hardison asked her if the appetizers were free. Apparently, Parker ignored him and Hardison was hoarding food. And when she talked to Sophie, she was speaking gibberish. </p><p>Sophie inhaled and had her face in her hands before removing them. "I hate you all." Sophie said, not happy. </p><p>"Hey! I at least guessed you were British!" Kaira exclaimed.</p><p>Parker went on to say that Coswell approached her about having drinks on her tray. He dismissed her and Parker got her distraction in the form of the power surge from Hardison's brute force attack hack and Hardison's fake allergic reaction. </p><p>Parker was the one who yelled about Hardison's throat closing up, and handed the big knife to Eliot. Parker used the distraction to get her gear from under the table and went through the vent into the closet, but it was locked, so she grabbed her gear again and went through the vents. Parker heard the gun and hid in the restoration room under the table. </p><p>She saw the guy put it in the vault and put the mug in the box that Eliot and Kaira ended up opening. The guys left, so Parker went and grabbed the dagger and exited the room when she heard Coswell calling for backup and Parker made it back up to the vents. She found Sophie's Duchess outfit and climbed up the vent. AS she was climbing, she ran into Coswell, and she hit him, and they struggled, and during the struggle, the dagger came loose and fell. </p><p>"No!" Karia exclaimed. </p><p>"That's how it happened." Parker said. </p><p>"I told you. That Coswell guy, he's smart. He could even be smarter than Nate." Sophie said. </p><p>"No, no, because, see, the dagger was still reported stolen. Somebody got up out of there with Aqu'Abi." Hardison pointed out. </p><p>"Well, that means that one of us is lying." Sophie suggested. </p><p>"So says the liar." Hardison said. </p><p>"You." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"Excuse me?" Sophie questioned. </p><p>"Where there's smoke there's fire." Eliot said. </p><p>"I couldn't even understand what you were saying." Hardison said overtop of Eliot. </p><p>Sophie, Eliot, and Sophie were arguing, and Nate was being quiet. Kaira got an idea. </p><p>"Or we haven't gotten everyone's sides yet." Kaira suggested, looking at Nate and shutting everyone up.</p><p>Nate smirked and sat up. </p><p>"I think you're all forgetting to ask yourself the one central, crucial question." Nate said, standing up and going behind the bar as the team watched. </p><p>"What?" Eliot asked, getting impatient. </p><p>"Well, the question is, who was the insurance company for the dagger of Aqu'Abi?" Nate revealed. </p><p>"No." Sophie said. </p><p>"You got to be kidding." Eliot said. </p><p>"Come on, man." Hardison said overtop of Eliot. </p><p>"Son of a bitch." Kaira muttered, surprised she didn't ask that sooner. </p><p>"Why don't you come over and let me tell you what really happened?" Nate suggested, drinking a shot of alcohol. </p><p>"You're getting cocky." Kaira chuckled as the team walked over and gathered at the bar. </p><p>Nate smiled. "I'll admit it -- you know, I didn't quite have all of it. I mean, not till this very second. But now I can finally tell you what exactly happened the night the dagger of Aqu'Abi was stolen." Nate said. </p><p>"Mastermind"</p><p>Nate was behind Sophie, talking with Coswell, saying that Gladstone had reported three items stolen in the year before. I.Y.S wasn't didn't want to pay the claim on the dagger. Nate was going to the security. Sophie did indeed have a British accent and sent the champagne over to Hardison as Bioko laced with shrimp juice on Parker's tray. Apparently, Coswell had a crush on the Duchess. </p><p>Eliot grabbed the glass from Parker's tray and spit it out, and ran into Sophie's Duchess persona. Eliot said the champagne tasted funny and introduced himself. Coswell asked Parker for a drink and was awkward as Parker pointed to the refreshment table. Sophie wasn't as dramatic, nor was Eliot, or Hardison during the fake allergic reaction. </p><p>Parker still handed the big knife to Eliot. Sophie had thrown her black bag containing the Duchess outfit on the floor of the restoration room. Coswell was also calmer when talking to Sophie, and not as much of a hardass as the team made him out to be. </p><p>Coswell was awkwardly flirting with Sophie as she did her thing with switching the labels. Coswell was muttering stupid as Eliot and Kaira were leaving. Eliot and Kaira took out the guard, which is why Parker couldn't open the door and had to go to plan be, accidentally grabbing Sophie's bag instead of the bag that had her gear. Sophie left, hiding from Coswell who had a long box. Coswell was trying to ask Sophie out. Parker made the switch, with the dagger. Coswell asked Eliot and Kaira if they saw Dr. Ipcress aka Sophie. Eliot and Kaira said no and they left as Sophie made her exit. </p><p>Nate met with Coswell, asking him about the food poisoning thing that happened upstairs. Coswell was going to give Sophie a box of roses. Coswell then found Hardison and asked him if he knew Ipcress. He said no and was upset he couldn't find Sophie, and emotional. Hardison pushed Coswell into the closet, and he went to find a way, using Parkers gear to climb the vents. He saw Parker that's when she punched him. The dagger fell when Parker dropped, right into Nate's hand. </p><p>The team groaned in disappointment. </p><p>"Oh, butterfingers!" Parker exclaimed. </p><p>"It was my perfect plan!" Sophie exclaimed before they all started talking over each other. </p><p>Sophie told them all to wait. "Assuming we buy this..." Sophie said. </p><p>"Poor Coswell." Parker muttered. </p><p>"There's one problem with your story." Sophie said. </p><p>"The dagger was still reported stolen." Eliot added. </p><p>"Because it was stolen." Nate said. </p><p>Nate revealed that Gladstone reported the dagger stolen and was upset, yelling at Coswell, and Nate confronted them. He broke the dagger, revealing it was a fake. Nate then revealed that Gladstone sold the originals on the black market, then staged a theft to collect the insurance money. </p><p>Gladstone offered to make it right. Nate told him to give back the money from the last three insurance payouts, then give up the dagger and the dealer. Nate said he'd keep the theft out of the paper. </p><p>"So none of us got it." Eliot said. </p><p>"None of us got it." Parker realized. </p><p>"Wait. Did it work? Did you get the dealer?" Sophie asked. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira realized the dealer was Gutman. </p><p>"You took out Gutman?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"You're welcome." Nate said. </p><p>Kaira breathed. Even before they interacted, Nate was saving Kairas life. </p><p>"So we just did all that work for nothing." Hardison said.</p><p>"Not for nothing. No. You know, you guys, sometimes it's easy to forget why it is you stopped working alone and became a team. Here's why." Nate stood up and unpaused the tv. </p><p>The news revealed that the dagger is owned by Nigel Hayton, the CEO of Baron Oil. The company is responsible for the latest oil spill in American waters. There were some protests about the display. Due to the spill, thousands had lost their jobs, and Hayton was showing off the profits. Hayton claimed that showing his art collection to the "little people" was a wonderful way of showing how much Baron Oil cared. </p><p>Nate paused the news again. </p><p>"What a piece of work." Karia muttered, sipping her beer. </p><p>Parker took a shot and called dibs, and Sophie objected, taking her shot then leaving. </p><p>Hardison wasn't far behind. </p><p>Then Eliot chuckled at Nate, who told him to go. </p><p>Kaira took another sip of her beer. </p><p>Eliot looked back and Kaira motioned for him to go and that she'd catch up. </p><p>Kaira looked back at Nate. </p><p>"Thank you for taking care of Gutman for me and Eliot. God, those were the scariest two weeks of my life." Kaira said. </p><p>Nate smiled. "No problem, kiddo." Nate said. </p><p class="">Kaira smiled again and motioned back. </p><p class="">"You coming?" Kaira asked. </p><p class="">Nate thought a second and finished his drink. </p><p class="">"Ah, what the hell." Nate climbed over the counter and followed Kaira out, shutting the light off and locking the door to the bar, ready to join the team to do this job together. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! This was honestly the funniest episode for me to do! I liked switching viewpoints and adding the hilarious banter that happened in this episode. Now, for the chapterly Leverage edit: <br/>https://youtu.be/QpIQ-O0KnAY<br/>I thought this song would be appropriate as this episode is about the team realizing why they started working together and that they do indeed work better together than alone. </p><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you all so much for the love on this series! If you have any ideas or any feedback, please comment! I love you all! Stay safe everyone!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. The King George Job (3x12)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team is finally starting to go after Damien Moreau. To get close to Moreau, the team takes on his mover, John Robert Keller, to save the life of an innocent refugee girl who was caught smuggling for him and to take down Moreau. Things get complicated when Sophie's cover is revealed to be more involved than the team thought.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! I'm excited that we're getting closer to one of my favorite episodes, and closer to the end of season 3! I'm super excited to share what I have in mind for that episode! It's going to be crazy! Until then, here is episode 12 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The team all arrived at Logan International Airport, more specifically the International Terminal. The team had gotten a lead on Moreau. The team managed to track John Robert Keller, Moreau's mover, to this airport.</p><p>Nate, Sophie, and Kaira walked into the main lobby. "It's taken us four months to get even this close to one of Damien Moreau's guys. Now we have a chance to hit him and get closer to Moreau. Hardison, take us through it." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison was at the desk checking passports, looking at his phone. "Flight manifest for Global Transit airlines 485 out of Baghead shows John Douglas Keller in Business class. Now Keller - he moves antiquities for our primary target, Damien Moreau. It shows he has no checked luggage, just probably a carry-on. Y-you know what, guys? I-I don't get this. I-It'd be a lot easier to intercept him out in the terminal." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira saw Eliot, dressed as a pilot, rounding the corner.</p><p>"No, if this guy is as strapped as I think he is, he's gonna have a gang of security waiting outside the airport for him, one bodyguard on the plane, you want to get close to him, you do it in here." Eliot said.</p><p>"Sounds like a plan, babe." Kaira whispered.</p><p>"Parker?" Nate got Parker's attention.</p><p>Parker was a luggage transport worker.</p><p>"While Eliot distracts the bodyguard, I'll lift Keller's wallet and phone and do a briefcase switch." Parker said. "Hardison intercepted an e-mail." Nate said.</p><p>"And decrypted it. These guys use - use a variant of Larry Duberman's algorithm. I-It's not as easy as baking a cake." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Moving on, yes. So Keller has something valuable on this flight, probably Iraqi antiquities. Now, if we get him from all sides, one of us can grab the goods, and then I'll put our hooks into him." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira saw Keller walking past Eliot and towards Hardison.</p><p>"There he is." Nate said.</p><p>"I've got him." Eliot said.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot saw another guy coming towards Keller.</p><p>"That's the bodyguard. I'm going in." Eliot said, starting to follow.</p><p>"Parker, he's got a black briefcase, silver hardware." Eliot reported.</p><p>"Silver hardware?" Parker questioned.</p><p>He looked through the bags and saw she didn't have one.</p><p>"All right, I'm on it." Parker left.</p><p>Kaira then saw a little girl approaching Eliot and speaking in Arabic, asking for help.</p><p>"Nate? Sweetheart?" Eliot said.</p><p>"I got him." Kaira said.</p><p>Eliot talked to the little girl, saying she was meeting her family. Eliot grabbed her hand and walked her over towards security.</p><p>"Keller hasn't changed bags or talked to anyone." Kaira reported.</p><p>"So whatever he's smuggling is probably in cargo and probably under a different name." Nate said.</p><p>The young girl was being escorted by a female security guard.</p><p>"All right. I'm out." Eliot said.</p><p>Hardison sent a woman through and Keller was next.</p><p>"Sorry for the delay, sir. We, uh - we've had a yellow alert issued." Hardison told Keller.</p><p>"Oh, no trouble at all." Keller said, his British accent present.</p><p>"Mr. Keller, what are your reasons for visiting Boston?" Hardison asked Keller.</p><p>"Business, I'm afraid. Just a quick dinner meeting. Then I'm off home to London." Keller said.</p><p>"Okay. Can't see much of Boston in three hours, can you?" Hardison joked with Keller.</p><p>"No, more's the pity." Keller said.</p><p>"Anything to declare?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"No, nothing at all. No time for shopping, really - not even duty-free." Keller said.</p><p>Just then an alarm started blaring and security came to the gate. They approached the little girl, who was caught smuggling in something.</p><p>"Uh, guys, we have a problem. Uh, they're arresting the wrong smuggler." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison was forced to let Keller through. Kaira watched as some guy tried talking to a guard, saying she had refugee status and he needed to talk to her. Then Keller talked to his bodyguard, revealing he had 10 girls total smuggle in stuff on flights, but the girl was an acceptable loss.</p><p>"That son of a bitch is using children as mules." Kaira muttered, not happy.</p><p>The security took the girl past them.</p><p>"Okay, Hardison, Eliot, I want you to tail Keller -Discreetly. No contact. Surveillance only. Parker, if you get an opening, I want you to lift, uh, Keller's cellphone and clone it. Nothing else." Nate ordered.</p><p>"Kaira and I need access to that girl." Sophie told Nate.</p><p>"No, no, it's too risky." Nate said.</p><p>"What? Hardison has TSA badges." Sophie questioned.</p><p>"For this gate only, Soph." Kaira said.</p><p>"They just played us. No, I'm going in." Sophie said, adamant.</p><p>"No, you're not. No, no. No, w-we can't have access to one of those holding areas. It's deep security." Nate explained.</p><p>"Then we talk to the family." Kaira suggested.</p><p>"Let's get this little girl home." Nate said.</p><p>Nate left to go meet them and Kaira had Sophie follow them, though it was obvious that Sophie wanted to grift her way in. They sat down on some chairs in the lobby and got their story from a guy named Ibrahim, the same one trying to get the security guard to let him talk to the girl.</p><p>"So, you're an immigration advocate?" Sophie asked the guy.</p><p>"I have spent the past six years trying to reunite wartorn families. I meet people off the plane and hope the smugglers and drug dealers haven't gotten to them first." Ibrahim said.</p><p>"But she's innocent. Well, there must be something you can do." Sophie said.</p><p>"I can file paperwork. That is all I can do. She's sitting alone in a holding cell, and I don't know what to tell her family." Ibrahim said, knowing his hands were tied as much he as wanted to help.</p><p>"She could be kept in the system for months without being processed." Nate said.</p><p>"The laws haven't caught up to this kind of crime." Kaira pointed out.</p><p>"I deal with a lot of children seeking asylum. These tactics are not uncommon. A man with a gun forces a statue or a necklace into a kid's bag and says, "take this onto the plane or I'll kill you." Ibrahim explained.</p><p>"And it usually works. The TSA is looking for guns and weapons, not statuary." Nate said.</p><p>"But the artifacts more than pay for drugs and weapons. It's-" Ibrahim explained when Sophie cut him off.</p><p>"Art for blood." Sophie said.</p><p>"Well, we will do our best to exonerate A-yan, all right? Now, you just, uh, keep - keep filing the paperwork, cross your T's, dot your I's, and we'll be in touch." Nate said.</p><p>Kaira smiled as the guy thanked them and left.</p><p>The team met back up that night at the bar once their tasks were done. Hardison put the information in his briefing and the team sat at the table Eliot was standing beside Kaira, who was sitting, Sophie sitting beside her, then Nate, Parker, and Hardison stood at the end.</p><p>"If I just take Keller out, is there another way to Moreau?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Not a fast one. Moreau got his start smuggling antiquities from war zones." Hardison said.</p><p>"Statute of limitations is way past on those crimes." Eliot said.</p><p>"No, no, that doesn't matter. The more experienced a criminal becomes, the more sophisticated he gets at covering his tracks. You go back to his first crimes, and that's where you see the rough edges. It's sort of like-" Nate explained.</p><p>"Archaeology. Archaeology of crime. The further back you go in a criminal's career, the more primitive his methods, the more mistakes you can find as a way in - a lot more mistakes." Sophie pointed out.</p><p>"Since Moreau started with antiquities, these companies and these bank accounts are the closest ties to his real life. And since he's moved up, Keller started running that part of the business. And it's a cash cow. The valuables from the looted Iraqi museum or an archaeological dig - they fetch millions on the black market in the west." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Yeah, but unlike a stolen Monet or the Rosalind Diamond, these pieces aren't registered or insured, so they're impossible to track. Man, I should've got into that years ago." Parker said.</p><p>Sophie chuckled.</p><p>"I mean before we went straight, of course." Parker said.</p><p>"So, Keller steals a statue from a dig in Iraq, and he mules it through customs using a little kid and he sells it to rich Americans for 5 million bucks." Eliot realized.</p><p>"That 5 million funds terrorist training camps, weapons sales." Nate explained.</p><p>"The one thing that's got me stumped is that little girl's arrest didn't break Keller's stride at all. I mean, he's already off on a flight to London. Apparently, he's a-a regular at Claridge's Auction House." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Because you don't just sell on the black market. The real payoff, the big money, is when you move it through legitimate auction houses. You fake up the papers, you scrub off the blood and dirt, and you clean it up so that all the pretty people can show it off in their bloody houses." Sophie seemed upset as she tossed her pencil down and left.</p><p>Nate eventually followed her down to the bar, where Sophie was sitting, drinking. She heard the door shut.</p><p>"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you the only one that's allowed to brood down here, or is it an open bar?" Sophie said as Nate grabbed a glass for himself and went behind the bar.</p><p>"I know what you're thinking, but it's not the same thing." Nate tried to comfort Sophie.</p><p>"Oh, no. Of course it's not. I stole from one rich man to sell to another rich man." Sophie said.</p><p>"No one got hurt." Nate said.</p><p>"That I know of. How do I know that innocent children weren't used to shift my merchandise?" Sophie questioned.</p><p>"You want to talk about collateral damage, we'd be here all day." Nate pointed out.</p><p>Sophie chuckled.</p><p>"Yeah." Sophie said.</p><p>"Tread lightly? I mean, who treads lightly?" Nate asked out loud.</p><p>"Well, certainly not us." Sophie said.</p><p>"Listen, Sophie, this guy Keller is one of Moreau's top lieutenants. Now, if we get emotionally overinvested in this or any case, we get sloppy. We get sloppy, we lose Keller, we lose Moreau, we lose the whole operation." Nate pointed out.</p><p>"And the Italian sends you back to prison or worse. And with all that at stake, you're prepared to give me a lecture on being overinvested? Listen, I know I grifted from filthy-rich wankers who hardly ever missed the money, and half the time they love the thrill of being taken for a ride. But this - this whole Moreau business has got me thinking. Keller steals from the rich too. And a little girl ends up in detainment for it." Sophie said, trying to calm herself down.</p><p>Nate took a deep breath.</p><p>"Do you want to go to London?" Nate asked Sophie.</p><p>Sophie smiled at Nate.</p><p>"Let's go steal an auction." Sophie said.</p><p>Nate and Sophie clunked glasses and finished drinking.</p><p>It took some time, but they managed to get a flight to London. It was about mid-day when they made it to the auction house. Nate and Sophie walked around as Parker was ready in her cover, Eliot and Kaira were ready, and Hardison was ready.</p><p>"I love Claridge's Auction House." Sophie inhaled, looking at the ornate auction room.</p><p>"Even the air feels more expensive." Sophie said.</p><p>"So this is where Keller moves most of his goods. And his calendar says that he should be arriving here just about now. Hardison, you in there computers next?" Nate said.</p><p>Hardison just sat down at the desk.</p><p>"Accessing. Okay, a-apparently their computer system is also an antique. Possibly steam-powered, which would be cool." Hardison said, obviously not happy with how slow the computer was running.</p><p>"Hardison, this is an extremely old house. They believe in tradition. The computer records are gonna be bare bones. The real contracts are gonna be paper files." Sophie said.</p><p>Hardison looked around the office at the filing cabinets. "So that's not just for decoration?" Hardison questioned.</p><p>"Just count to K, Hardison. I need a record of everything he's sold here." Nate said.</p><p>"Or we could just ask the man himself." Sophie said, seeing Keller walking in.</p><p>"Parker, you're up." Nate cued.</p><p>Parker walked up to Keller.</p><p>"Your coat, sir?" Parker put on a British accent as Keller took off his coat and handed it to Parker.</p><p>Parker tossed the coat to another worker and looked through the wallet. Nate and Sophie watched as Keller sat down.</p><p>"What do you got, Parker?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Nothing unusual. But he does have an auction card from Claridge's." Parker said.</p><p>"Does it have an item number on it?" Nate asked.</p><p>"857204." Parker said.</p><p>"If the number starts with an 8, then it's a bid card. He's not selling today. He's buying something. Why?" Sophie questioned.</p><p>Nate started walking.</p><p>"I'm not sure why. But if this is his hub, I'm gonna give him one more item to move through it. Parker, return the wallet. Keep the bid card. Find the vault. It should be filled with antiquities waiting to be processed. I need something to establish my credentials with Keller. Eliot, Kiddo, did they bring backup?" Nate said.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were in the parking garage, acting like mechanics fixing a broken car. Kaira leaned against the car, and Eliot was crouched down wiping his hands.</p><p>"Keller showed up with just his bodyguard. Driver's waiting. They won't be long." Eliot reported.</p><p>"Okay, keep an eye on the front door." Nate ordered.</p><p>"Rodger that, Nathan." Kaira said before getting back into cover.</p><p>Parker made it down to the vault and made it to the door.</p><p>"1905-style Strong Room. Walls two feet thick. Cast-iron. Way ahead of its time. But probably taken out with an acetylene burner during the Postwar crime waves." Parker started turning the dial.</p><p>"Retrofitted hinges and alarms in the 1980s - the Thatcher security boom. But English damp... won't allow for heat sensors to work. I almost feel bad for you." Parker said, ending her rant.</p><p>She spun the wheel having gotten the combination.</p><p>"I looked up the number on the bid card. And get this - Keller bought a ring." Sophie reported, meeting Nate in the back of the room.</p><p>"Ah. A Mason ring or an engagement ring?" Nate asked.</p><p>"A signet ring belonging to George, the Prince Regent. Doesn't make any sense. I mean, considering the priceless antiquities that Keller handles on a daily basis, this little trinket isn't worth very much." Sophie said.</p><p>"Well, maybe he's buying it for a client." Nate suggested.</p><p>"But there'd be no need to shift something like this on the black market when it's right here in the open. No, he wants this for himself. I just have to figure out why." Sophie said, thinking.</p><p>Kaira was also thinking, though she kept silent.</p><p>"Parker, what do you got for me?" Nate asked over comms.</p><p>Parker made it into the room and was looking at all the items in a crate, specifically a vase.</p><p>"Ohh! This place is great! I recognize over half of this stuff." Parker looked at a figurine.</p><p>"Oh. Hello. Last time I saw you was at the Louvre. Well, actually, you were in the back seat of my car, but before that you were at the Louvre." Parker said.</p><p>"Parker, focus!" Nate brought her in line.</p><p>"Okay." Parker started looking at the items in the crate.</p><p>"We've got Napoleonic silver... ooh, some great Russian icons, 17th century, and... a statue, gold guy, uh, loincloth, pharaoh beard, and very rectangular feet." Parker said, holding the statue.</p><p>"Falcon head, dog head, or human head?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Bird head. And I think he's smirking at me." Parker said. Kaira got a tad excited.</p><p>"Statue of Ra." Kaira blurted out, though quietly.</p><p>"Sorry." Kaira whispered though she could hear Nate chuckling.</p><p>"Okay, perfect. Bring it to me." Nate said.</p><p>"You mean something. You're not worth anything, so you mean something." Sophie said to herself.</p><p>"Hardison, did you find those files yet?" Sophie asked.</p><p>Hardison had just pulled out a file. "Yes - now, look, when we get a moment, y'all are gonna have to explain this English filing system. Now, as far as Keller goes, there's a big file and a small file. Big file is all sales - antiquities, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, all with fake provenance." Hardison said, looking through the file before putting it down.</p><p>"What's in the small file?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Small one is land purchases - old manor houses up for auction, all within the last two years, all in Scotland. Ha! Places like, uh... Lock Glengorra... And Loch McGr-r-r... I'm not even gonna try to pronounce it, man. It's just a bunch of random G's and N's." Hardison said.</p><p>"Scotland? Thanks, Hardison. You can get out of there." Sophie said as she walked.</p><p>"Okay, I'm gonna go in. You want to play a little Nick and Nora?" Nate suggested.</p><p>"Umh-Unnh. No. I'm gonna stay on the outside for a bit." Sophie said as Parker gave Nate the statue.</p><p>"There's something about this Keller guy that's vexing me." Sophie said, continuing to follow Nate.</p><p>"Hey, listen, Sophie, you never intentionally put an innocent person in danger." Nate said as he walked out.</p><p>Sophie had sat down with the other people waiting for the auction.</p><p>"Just don't let him put you in danger. Good hunting." Sophie said.</p><p>Nate ended up waiting for Keller outside the restroom sitting on some benches. When Keller left, he was talking about a Spanish deal and for his bodyguard to call his guy in San Lorenzo.</p><p>"Ah, Mr. Keller. Yes, I believe you dropped this." Nate said, handing Keller the bid card.</p><p>"Thank you, Mister, uh..." Keller said, not getting Nate's name.</p><p>"Jensen - Tom Jensen." Nate introduced himself, his American accent clear.</p><p>"Oh, an American. Are you with Claridge's?" Keller asked.</p><p>"In a way. I've - I have participated in some of their New York auctions, yeah." Nate said.</p><p>"Participated how?" Keller asked.</p><p>"I'm a broker of merchandise - antiques, mostly - for private collectors. I like to let them know when something, you know, of interest, uh, becomes discovered. Uh, yes." Nate said, looking at the Ra statue.</p><p>"Smuggling is a crime, Mr. Tom Jensen." Keller pointed out.</p><p>"No, I find the goods. I don't - I don't move them. No, I-I heard that, uh, that was your specialty, actually." Nate said. Keller noticed the statue.</p><p>"Interesting." Keller said.</p><p>"Oh, yeah. Oh, this? Yeah." Nate picked up the statue.</p><p>"Statue of Ra?" Keller questioned.</p><p>"Yes, yeah." Nate said, handing the status to Keller.</p><p>"You buy that on the Portobello Road?" Keller asked.</p><p>Nate chuckled.</p><p>"No. I have an archaeologist on payroll. That came from a dig in Egypt. Yeah, we have four crates of really high-end, amazing antiquities, yeah, and - yeah, in fact, I have to find a way to get them back to my, uh, buyer in America, and I heard that you are the right person for that kind of job." Nate said.</p><p>Keller smelled the statue.</p><p>"How does it smell?" Nate asked.</p><p>Sophie stood up, not liking the sound of the situation.</p><p>"He smelled it? Oh." Sophie said.</p><p>"No, that's not from Egypt. And, uh... see this here?" Keller fliped the statue over and showed the base to his bodyguard.</p><p>"No, I'd say this is from the Bellingham collection which is slated for auction in two weeks, which either means you are a con artist or a cop." Keller said, signaling his bodyguard to go after Nate, which he did.</p><p>"Oh, I'm just trying to make a deal here." Nate said as he got pushed in the stomach and went down on the bench.</p><p>Eliot and Kaira looked at each other and stood up and got ready to leave.</p><p>"Nate, we're on our way." Kaira said.</p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, stay where you are." Sophie said.</p><p>"What?" Eliot asked, stopping Kaira.</p><p>"What?" Nate asked as he got punched in the stomach again.</p><p>"I said, who are you working for?" Keller asked.</p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, you go in now, you'll blow the con." Sophie said, leaving.</p><p>"Sophie, the con's already blown." Eliot said.</p><p>"Yeah, the old one is. Not my con. The ring, Scottish manors... I know Mr. Keller's heart's desire." Sophie said, continuing to leave.</p><p>She walked in to the area Nate was at as he was getting punched in the stomach, then held by his throat.</p><p>"I beg your pardon, but your manhandling my employee. Kindly call off your dog, Mr. Keller." Sophie said, a more regal accent in her voice.</p><p>"Ennis, that's enough." Keller called of his bodyguard as he looked at Sophie and the bodyguard let Nate go.</p><p>"You know my name. I can't say I've had the same pleasure." Keller said, intrigued.</p><p>"Charlotte Prentice, 18th Duchess of Hanover." Sophie introduced herself.</p><p>Keller's demeanor changed as he grabbed Sophie's hand.</p><p>"Your Grace." He said as he kissed Sophie's hand.</p><p>Keller let go.</p><p>"What happened? He try the Egypt story? This statue comes from a private collection. I meet a great deal of people in my travels who wish to have such collections liquidated, quickly and quietly. The buyer I have lined up for this particular piece is in America, and I have no one I can trust to traverse customs." Sophie sold the pitch.</p><p>"If your story checks out - though, on principle, I would never doubt someone of your standing - I will do you the courtesy of not hunting down and killing you man here." Keller said, seemingly showing Sophie some respect.</p><p>"Well, thank you." Nate muttered.</p><p>"But, uh, I'm not taking on any outside clients right now." Keller said.</p><p>"I'll double your commission." Sophie offered.</p><p>"I'm afraid the answer's still no, your grace. Now, if you'll pardon me?" Keller said, going to leave.</p><p>"Perhaps I can provide you with something else, something worth more than money?" Sophie offered, causing Keller to stop.</p><p>"I'm afraid there's really no price." Keller said.</p><p>"A knighthood perhaps." Sophie offered.</p><p>"A knighthood?" Keller chuckled.</p><p>"With all due respect, your Grace, her Majesty hands out 2,600 of those a year. Any pop star can have a knighthood." Keller said, declining.</p><p>He went to walk away again.</p><p>"I see. Your aims are a little higher. One of the lost Baronies, them?" Sophie suggested.</p><p>"Sophie." Nate whispered.</p><p>"You see what I'm running here?" Sophie asked Nate.</p><p>"I do, but are you sure this is a good idea?" Nate asked. Keller walked back.</p><p>"One of the lost Baronies? Not possible." Keller said, not believing Sophie.</p><p>"There are about 10 people in the world who can secure an interview with the Earl Marshal, and I happen to be closely related to three of them. If you help me with my little venture, then I'll help you claim a lost Barony... my Lord." Sophie said.</p><p>"How?" Keller asked.</p><p>"Meet me at Porter's tomorrow. Afternoon tea." Sophie said.</p><p>"I look forward to it. And, uh... let's leave our pets at home, shall we?" Keller said, leaving.</p><p>"Certainly." Sophie said quietly.</p><p>Nate just shook his head.</p><p>The rest of the team was mostly confused as they all met Kaira and Eliot outside.</p><p>"Who's the Duchess of Hanover?" Eliot asked Sophie.</p><p>"And what's a lost Barony?" Hardison asked.</p><p>"Can I keep the statue?" Parker asked.</p><p>"We have a lot of work to do - about 200 years' worth, actually." Sophie said as they kept walking.</p><p>"All right, guys, let's go steal a royal title." Nate said.</p><p>They went back to their hotel room. Everyone was at the table, minus Nate, as he was getting a drink.</p><p>"The royal cover story is easy to check, hard to fake." Nate pointed out to Sophie.</p><p>"I spent seven years establishing this persona. Trust me, Nate. It's rock solid." Sophie said.</p><p>"How'd you know he'd go for it?" Eliot asked Sophie.</p><p>"Keller's been buying up small but specific pieces of Scottish land. Well, that's one way to obtain a minor Barony. He's also a royal fetishist. I mean, there was no reason for him to overbid on the Prince Regent ring. It had to be emotional. Plus, when I introduced myself, he addressed me as "your Grace" rather than the more common "My lady", and he gave a little bow and kissed my hand." Sophie said, liking that part.</p><p>"And what was the Earl Marshal part about?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Oh, he controls the succession of titles in the peerage. So this is key - there are 86 unclaimed baronies in Great Britain." Sophie explained.</p><p>"It's just a title that no one holds." Nate continued explaining.</p><p>"And does it come with a castle?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Sometimes." Sophie said.</p><p>"Ooh!" Parker got excited.</p><p>"So, this is Keller's heart's desire, I take it?" Nate questioned.</p><p>"Oh, yeah. Checked into it, man. He's applied for an audience with the Earl Marshal six times in the past two years." Hardison turned his laptop around.</p><p>"Denied." Hardison said.</p><p>"Good guess." Nate said.</p><p>"It's not really a guess when it's that good, is it?" Sophie said, proud of herself.</p><p>"The name of this con is called "The Mummy's Tiara"." Nate explained.</p><p>"Come on, man. That can't be real." Hardison said.</p><p>"Am I gonna have to steal a corpse again?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Oh, it's real, all right, and almost impossible to pull off in a country that has an actual monarchy. So, The Mummy's Tiara involves using a forced relic to purchase a royal title." Sophie explained.</p><p>"A forged relic. That means we need a forger. I know a couple guys in the states." Hardison said.</p><p>"I think I got a contact in London." Kaira added.</p><p>"No, Hardison and Kaira. Unh-unh." Sophie got up and grabbed the statue and sat it down in the middle of the table as Sophie sat down.</p><p>"Hardison, you're gonna do it." Sophie looked at Hardison.</p><p>"I'm a hacker. I hack. I don't forge." Hardison said.</p><p>"You're not making a forgery. You're gonna create a work of art. Smell it. That's how he knew that Nate was lying." Sophie said.</p><p>She placed the statue in front of Hardison.</p><p>"Go on." Sophie said.</p><p>Hardison picked it up and smelled it.</p><p>"Oh, yeah - it smells like a statue. And gold." Hardison kept smelling it before he caught on.</p><p>"And?" Sophie said.</p><p>Hardison took another whiff.</p><p>"Okay. and - and some cinnamon. There's a little cinnamon on there." Hardison said.</p><p>"And cardamom. Those are the spices that statue was packed with as it lay in its tomb for thousands of years. But those spices were only used in Libyan tombs, not Egyptian ones. Eliot, feel the base." Sophie said.</p><p>Hardison had passed the statue to Eliot and he smelled it and had Kaira smell it, showing Sophie was right. Eliot felt the bottom of the base.</p><p>"It's rough. It's been sanded." Eliot pointed out.</p><p>"Markings from the acidic cleanser used in the British museum in the 1800s. And that's how he knew it wasn't a recent find." Sophie said.</p><p>Kaira also felt the base of the statue.</p><p>"Can I taste it?" Parker asked.</p><p>"You should. Go on." Sophie said.</p><p>Parker quickly licked the statue.</p><p>"Tastes like cold." Parker said.</p><p>"Sophie grabbed the statue and placed it in the center.</p><p>"Yeah, so, as you know, Parker, most metals heat up when they're held - platinum, for example - but gold, no. Gold stays cool and impassive as a god. So, if we're gonna fool an expert of Keller's caliber, then we're gonna have to overwhelm his senses with something too real to be fake. Hardison, get busy." Sophie tore a piece of paper and handed it to Hardison.</p><p>"There's your shopping list. Don't skimp on supplies." Sophie said, handing Hardison the list.</p><p>"Use Eliot, Kaira, and Parker. We're gonna go finish the deal with Keller and get him to transport our secret stash of treasures back to the states." Nate said.</p><p>"What secret treasure stash?" Kaira asked, realizing that part wasn't mentioned before.</p><p>"I'm sorry - does that say goat marrow?" Hardison looked at the list, puzzled.</p><p>"Let's go." Nate ordered, starting the job.</p><p>The rest of the day consisted of Hardison, Parker, Eliot, and Kaira going shopping for some of the ingredients on the list and Kaira helping Hardison get set up.</p><p>The next day, more shopping was done, and Kaira was with Hardison to help him out since she felt bad about all the work he had to do. Parker and Eliot were out shopping and Nate and Sophie left to go to Porter's to meet with Keller. Nate and Sophie walked in, spying Keller at his seat.</p><p>"I'm about to revisit the topic of Sophie being overinvested. Now, you want to - you want to run a passion-based game on a man who bankrolls terrorists?" Nate said, not liking the plan.</p><p>"Exactly. End of the day, Nate, you always go here, whereas I go here." Sophie pointed to her head, then placed her hand on her chest.</p><p>"But to a mark who's always in his head... the heart con's the only one that works." Sophie explained.</p><p>"Heart con is dangerous. If it flames out on you, it's like igniting jet fuel." Nate said.</p><p>"Yeah? Tell that to the little girl who's sitting in an immigration holding cell." Sophie said, walking to Keller.</p><p>"Good luck." Nate muttered as he went the other way to get a seat close to Sophie.</p><p>Keller met with Sophie just before she got to the table.</p><p>"Your Grace. Allow me." Keller helped Sophie get situated, then sat down himself.</p><p>Nate was a few yards away. They ordered tea and got to talking.</p><p>"That's quite a claim you made yesterday. Can you back it up?" Keller asked.</p><p>"There are 86 lost, or dormant, baronies. The Queen doesn't approve of titles lying fallow. Having said that, it's almost impossible to claim one without the proper documentation." Sophie pointed out.</p><p>"I've done some research in that area myself. It's proven less than fruitful." Keller said.</p><p>"Birth certificates, church records, even whole family trees are submitted for consideration. But if you were to meet the Earl Marshal with the private journal of a royal ancestor, even the Queen herself couldn't refuse you." Sophie said. Keller was confused.</p><p>"A private journal? Belonging to?" Keller questioned.</p><p>"The mistress of King George the 3rd." Sophie said.</p><p>"That's a myth. Isn't it?" Keller questioned.</p><p>Sophie took a sip of her tea.</p><p>"As you know, George's reign ended in abject failure - loss of the colonies, an incurable illness, a dim-witted som poised to take the throne. The one thing he succeeded at was protecting his mistress, Catherine. In a moment of clarity in the last throes of his disease, he sent a pregnant Cathernine to America with a trunkful of treasure. And Catherine... kept a diary." Sophie told the story, taking another sip of tea.</p><p>"That has never been proved." Keller pointed out, not buying it.</p><p>"Of course. Some say she became a commoner in Massachusetts. Some say she died at sea. Some say she never left London at all. No one knows. But a man who has her book could claim a direct descent to Catherine..." Sophie explained.</p><p>"And the King of England." Keller realized.</p><p>"Now... that's got to be worth a barony and a small fortune." Sophie said, taking a bite of a sandwich.</p><p>Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Eliot and Kaira had arrived with a box of stuff for Hardison, who was on his laptop with a bowl, wipes, and a yellow substance in a bottle. Eliot sat the box on the table.</p><p>"I got your turpentine. I got your walnut oil, by the way." Eliot said, putting those items on the table.</p><p>"And a bucket of... soot." Eliot handed the box to Hardison.</p><p>"It's everywhere." Kaira chuckled as she saw the soot on Eliot's hands.</p><p>Hardison seemed pleased.</p><p>"Way to get your hands dirty." Hardison said. Eliot grabbed a yellow rag.</p><p>"Yeah, thank you." Eliot said, wiping his hands.</p><p>"Hey, put that down, man. That's my paper." Hardison said.</p><p>"It's a rag." Eliot pointed out.</p><p>"No, that's what printers used to make paper back in the 1700s." Hardison handed Eliot the wipes.</p><p>"Use a moist towelette, please, and thank you." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot grabbed one. Kaira noticed a smell, and so did Eliot, who smelled his hand. Kaira grabbed it and smelled it to.</p><p>"What's that smell?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"Uh, y-you don't want to know how they wet the paper back in the day." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira immediately knew what he meant and about threw up.</p><p>"Oh, hell no." Kaira groaned, grabbing a wipe.</p><p>"Did you -" Eliot said, also grabbing a wipe, not happy.</p><p>"Do not ask me, man." Hardison warned.</p><p>Eliot grabbed a few more wipes and left.</p><p>"Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot growled, and Kaira went to follow him, disgusted.</p><p>"Why you so sensitive? You touch worse." Hardison pointed out.</p><p>"I'm going out for Babaa Ghanoush!" Eliot yelled, leaving.</p><p>"And I'll join after I get a shower. Cause I feel really disgusting all of a sudden!" Kaira said, slamming the door behind them.</p><p>She did indeed do that.</p><p>Back at the tea place, Keller was pouring some milk in his cup.</p><p>"Do you have the book?" Keller asked.</p><p>"The book's coming up for auction at Claridge's as part of a small lot of 18th-century volumes. Even the auctioneer himself doesn't know its true value. I was just gonna pick it up as a family heirloom, but I'd be happy to share it with you, along with a personal letter of introduction to the Earl Marshal." Sophie said.</p><p>Nate was still listening in.</p><p>"If I help you move your goods to America. What's in the freight?" Keller accepted the deal.</p><p>"Oh. Let's just say bits and bobs - statuary from Egypt, paintings from France. There's a demand for these things in America. But my operation is small and relies on relationships. I just don't have the infrastructure to move so much so quickly." Sophie said.</p><p>"Well... I do." Keller said.</p><p>"So, it's a deal, then?" Sophie questioned.</p><p>"Almost. There's someone who wants to see you... Duchess." Keller said.</p><p>An older woman in pink revealed herself behind a wall.</p><p>"Oh?" Sophie questioned, trying not to break cover.</p><p>Nate didn't like this. "Okay, who is it? Sophie, listen, if it gets too hot, just leave." Nate said.</p><p>Keller stood up as the woman approached.</p><p>"Her Ladyship, the Countess of Kensington." Keller introduced her.</p><p>Sophie stood up and looked tense as the woman walked closer.</p><p>"All right, Sophie, listen, if your cover's blown, it's okay. Just find a way out." Nate said.</p><p>The woman was now in front of Sophie, who looked surprised to see her.</p><p>"Sophie?" Nate said, not liking the quiet.</p><p>"Charlotte!" The Countess said, extending her hands out to give a hug.</p><p>"Auntie!" Sophie exclaimed nervously, hugging the woman.</p><p>The women started chuckling and laughing.</p><p>"Charlotte?" Nate whispered to himself.</p><p>"There. Well. Family reunion." Keller said.</p><p>The women sat down and started talking about their pasts.</p><p>Back at the hotel, Hardison was printing out sheets of "paper" and Kaira, Eliot, and Parker arrived back. Parker and Eliot were arguing as they entered.</p><p>"I think the technical term is cotton swell." Parker argued.</p><p>"Maybe it's you putting them in too far. That's your problem." Eliot argued.</p><p>Parker looked at the paper on the clothesline that Hardison had set up.</p><p>"Um... I don't know how soon we're doing this auction scam, but are you planning on printing out the entire diary, page by page?" Parker questioned Hardison.</p><p>"Better hope she had a short and boring life." Kaira said.</p><p>"Do you know what I've achieved here? Do you? I made ink from boysenberries, okay? I-I-I-I've tanned hide for the covers." Hardison said.</p><p>"Forgot to tell you - don't go in the jacuzzi. It's not safe." Eliot said to Parker and Kaira.</p><p>"There goes my hot tub, wine, and book idea." Kaira whispered.</p><p>"I made glue for the binding from animal parts I do not care to discuss. I-I-I've made content for the filler pages using an algorithm from digitized colonial-era novels and diaries. I-I-I-It's Shakespeare in the house, people, Shakespeare." Hardison started ranting.</p><p>"Yeah, it sounds like a lot of work." Parker said.</p><p>"It is. In a single day, I've gone from apprentice to journeyman to master." Hardison said.</p><p>"He's losing it." Eliot said as Parker said, "Okay."</p><p>"Well, Yeah, so I'm gonna go steal some stuff." Parker said.</p><p>"Okay, but come back, caused I-I've fused computer technology with - with - with this stuff." Hardison pointed to all the stuff on the table.</p><p>"All right, man. Let us know how that goes." Eliot said, walking away.</p><p>"With - with - mm-hmm. I've hacked history! I've hacked history, people." Hardison said.</p><p>Eliot and Parker left.</p><p>"I'll stay." Kaira said.</p><p>"Really?" Hardison questioned.</p><p>"Yeah. Wouldn't want to miss the great Alec Hardison hacking history." Kaira teased lovingly as she got ready to help Hardison.</p><p>Back at the tea place, Sophie, the Countess, and Keller were all laughing as Sophie and the Countess were telling stories of "Charlotte's" past.</p><p>"So, there I was - remember this?" Sophie started laughing.</p><p>"I had the weed clippers in one hand, I had the prize petunias in the other." Sophie said.</p><p>"And the dear girl looked at me right in the eye and said..." The Countess said.</p><p>"Auntie, at least you still have the blue ribbon!" Sophie and the Countess said at the same time.</p><p>They chuckled at the story. Then Keller's phone rang.</p><p>"Pardon me a moment." Keller said, getting his phone out and seeing who was calling it.</p><p>"It will give us a chance to catch up." The Countess said, excusing Keller.</p><p>He left to take the call, and it was Moreau. Sophie exhaled and looked at the Countess.</p><p>"So, my dear Charlotte, where have you been all these years?" The Countess asked Sophie.</p><p>"Oh, you know, traveling. I always wanted to see the world. How have you been, Auntie?" Sophie said.</p><p>"Oh, well enough in spite of my pains, what, with our dear William gone these eight years come April." The Countess said.</p><p>Sophie lowered her head in sadness.</p><p>"Oh, don't look so sad, girl. It'll pucker your looks." The Countess said, kind of rudely.</p><p>"I miss him, that's all." Sophie said.</p><p>"Yes, well... he never blamed you for running off like you did. But the drink helped to console him." The Countess said.</p><p>"I loved him, Auntie - very much." Sophie said.</p><p>"And he loved you. dear - fiercely. One has to love fiercely in order to die of a broken heart. Don't you agree?" The Countess said.</p><p>Sophie looked at Nate, and he took a drink and tossed his menu on the table, seemingly not knowing what to make of this. Just then, Keller returned and Sophie stood up.</p><p>"I am so sorry, your Grace. That, uh, was my employer. There's been an incident in Boston that's made him more cautious about our next shipment." Keller said.</p><p>"Oh. Well, I'd best go take care of some details." Sophie said.</p><p>"Instead of next week, We'll be taking it out tomorrow. That's not gonna be a problem, is it?" Keller said.</p><p>Sophie wasn't pleased. but they had to deal with it.</p><p>They said goodbye and left to fill the team in. Kaira and Hardison worked double-time overnight in order to get ready to get the book in the auction the next day.</p><p>The next day, the team got ready. Hardison and Kaira kept working on the diary, Sophie and Nate went to the auction, Eliot was waiting to be told what to do, and Parker got ready. Nate and Sophie were in the auction room.</p><p>"Sophie." Nate said.</p><p>"You have something you want to ask me." Sophie said.</p><p>"I, uh - yeah." Nate sat down. "How real is this, uh - this Duchess persona?" Nate asked quietly.</p><p>"Where are we exactly on your side of things?" Sophie asked, going to sit down and ignoring the question.</p><p>"Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, Keller is shipping his antiquities out of London in the morning, we have to finish forging a 200-year old book that has to hold up to expert scrutiny, and take over an auction that's gonna start in five minutes and deliver to Keller a treasure trove of antiquities that we don't actually have." Nate pointed out.</p><p>"Piece of cake." Sophie got up and turned back to Nate.</p><p>"Plus, we're one step closer to Damien Moreau." Sophie said before leaving.</p><p>"Okay, Hardison, Kiddo, I need that book... now." Nate said.</p><p>Back at the hotel room, Hardison was gluing together pages and Kaira was helping to hold the pages as Hardison glued them together.</p><p>"Hey, man, Sophie said flawless. now you're saying fast. You two need to have a conversation and figure it out." Hardison said.</p><p>"Uh, fast. Go with fast." Nate said.</p><p>"Sure thing Nathan. But the glue that's on this binding takes two weeks to dry naturally. A hairdryer is too hot and powerful, it'll curl the pages and melt the spine. Found a manicure dryer, which will work." Kaira said.</p><p>"So you're just gonna have to wait. And as stunning as my work is - stunning, I say - it's still a rush job. It'll pass the first inspection, but it won't hold together for very long." Hardison explained.</p><p>Nate groaned and looked at his watch, realizing they were cutting it close.</p><p>"Okay, Eliot, what's your status?" Nate asked.</p><p>Eliot was outside the auction hall, walking up to where Keller's transport guys were.</p><p>"I'm meeting with Keller's transport guys right now." Eliot reported, walking.</p><p>"Hey, guys. How are you?" Eliot stopped walking and the group of men standing by the vehicle turned towards Eliot.</p><p>"I, uh - I'm under orders to inspect your facility before we can move the - the things." Eliot said.</p><p>"I see where you're coming from, and I respect your work." The lead guy said, his English accent apparent.</p><p>"Thank you." Eliot said.</p><p>"But we've only got two jobs today. One is to accompany you to your lady's storage bin and empty it of its contents. The second is to take it back with us. We won't be needing your accompaniment on that second leg." The lead guy said.</p><p>"Okay." Eliot chuckled to brush it off. "I got to - I got to call it in. Uh..." Eliot started dialing his phone and turned and took a couple of steps and put the phone to his ear. "Nate, these guys want me to take them straight to Sophie's secret stash. What the hell am I supposed to do with them?" Eliot reported, obviously not happy.</p><p>"Okay, stall. Stall. Um, yeah, uh, London city tour. You're good at that." Nate said, standing up.</p><p>"You want me to stall them? They're former British Paratroopers!" Eliot exclaimed.</p><p>Nate walked by Sophie sitting in the front.</p><p>"How - how do you..." Nate questioned.</p><p>"Haircuts, all right? It's very distinctive haircuts." Eliot said.</p><p>"As soon as I am done helping Hardison, I'll give you an assist, okay babe?" Kaira said, not liking the situation her husband was in.</p><p>"Alright." Eliot said.</p><p>He put his phone away and turned back and got ready to stall.</p><p>Nate was leaving through the back when Keller arrived. Sophie was sitting.</p><p>"Your Grace." Keller said.</p><p>Sophie waved him over and he sat next to Sophie.</p><p>"I've checked into the book collection." Keller said.</p><p>"You checked them?" Sophie questioned Keller, getting nervous.</p><p>"Asked around. Personal diaries from the Colonial Era. They have no idea what's in there... what that diary is worth." Keller said, getting excited as Sophie was relieved.</p><p>"They just think it's just the rambling fantasies of a lovesick girl." Sophie chuckled.</p><p>Nate walked outside.</p><p>"Parker!" Nate called and didn't find Parker. "Parker!" Nate whispered.</p><p>"What?!" Parker shot up from behind Nate.</p><p>Nate turned to look at Parker.</p><p>"Hey, is Sophie a princess?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Parker, just - did you take care of the auctioneer?" Nate asked the thief.</p><p>"Yeah. Sophie told me to find out his deepest wishes and give it to him." Parker explained.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah." Nate said.</p><p>"But I thought that would take way too long, so..." Parker said.</p><p>Turns out she used chloroform to knock him out.</p><p>"What?" Parker questioned, getting a look from Nate.</p><p>"He's gonna wake up in like three hours." Parker said. She put on glasses.</p><p>"Come on." Nate said.</p><p>They went back to the auction house. Parker got to selling some items and wasn't doing a good job, which Nate scolded her for and Eliot tried to stall by doing the London city tour.</p><p>Hardison arrived with the book and met Nate in the staircase.</p><p>"Okay. You're here, finally." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison was out of breath.</p><p>"Whew! Finally? FInally? You are looking at the Leonardo Da Vinci of forgery, my friend. It's all packed." Hardison said, catching his breath and handing the box to Nate.</p><p>"All right. The box has to pass, too." Nate pointed out.</p><p>"Yeah." Hardison said, assuring Nate it did.</p><p>"Okay, and you can track Keller's money back to Moreau's account, right?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Okay, but remember, Keller has got to go big or go home. I can follow the bid back to the shell companies, but it has to be big enough - 250,000 at least." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Okay, quarter of a million. Let's go." Nate said.</p><p>Hardison was much slower than Nate getting up the steps. Nate added the box to the stack of Colonial Era diaries.</p><p>"We're up, Parker." Nate whispered.</p><p>Parker got the bidding on the books. She asked for a starting bid, which Hardison gave, still catching his breath as he sat down. Nate came to the back of the room.</p><p>"Okay, Sophie, we've got to get Keller to bid at least 250,000 pounds. Anything over that, and Hardison can trace the money back to the source, and we can find Moreau." Nate said.</p><p>He went to sit down as Sophie got Keller to bid 200,000 pounds. Nate also buttered up a guy he sat behind, getting him to raise the bid so Keller would raise. He bet 260,000 pounds, but the guy Nate was buttering up raised it to 280,000 pounds. Sophie flirted with Keller and had him raise it up to 300,000 pounds. Parker ended the auction for the books, and Keller had it.</p><p>Meanwhile, at the storage house, Kaira got a taxi and got close to the locker as Eliot arrived with the goons. Eliot was joking with them as he pretended he couldn't find the keys.</p><p>Keller accepted the book as real, and Hardison may have yelled in relief. Keller transferred the money and Hardison started tracing it. The guy handed Keller the box and he walked away with Sophie in tow.</p><p>"This is the first day of your new life as a Baron. Shall we go and see the Earl Marshal?" Sophie suggested.</p><p>"Oh, I'll be seeing him, thanks, as soon as I bloody well please." Keller said, causing Sophie to stop walking.</p><p>"Uh, you'll need my letter of introduction." Sophie said.</p><p>Keller turned to face Sophie.</p><p>"I had a chat with the Countess yesterday. She told me all about your little royal scandal. Apparently, having you with me would ruin my chances of advancement. I'll take the book, thanks, that's all I need." Keller said.</p><p>"What about our deal?" Sophie questioned, not happy this happened.</p><p>"Oh, right." Keller said.</p><p>He dialed his phone and the lead goon answered.</p><p>"Hello?" The lead guy said.</p><p>"Ennis. Are you still at the storage unit?" Keller asked.</p><p>Kaira was luckily behind the group, knowing this was going to get worse. Eliot saw her but kept silent.</p><p>"Mm-Hmm." Ennis, as the lead goons name was, confirmed.</p><p>"Clear it out. And their man - shoot him. Throw him in the Thames." Keller ordered, hanging up.</p><p>Sophie did not like this as Keller left.</p><p>Eliot pulled out the key, but Ennis pulled out a gun and aimed it at Eliot. Kaira was sneaking up, quietly taking her belt off.</p><p>"Oh." Eliot said, seeing the gun.</p><p>"It really hurts me to have to do this to you. I've quite enjoyed your company this afternoon." Ennis said. "Listen-" Eliot tried to explain.</p><p>"But I'm gonna need you to open up the storage unit now." Ennis ordered.</p><p>"Listen, let me explain something to you. This thing - there's nothing in here, okay? My boss is - is running a con on your boss, man. I don't need this. I didn't sign up for this, okay? This - this thing is empty. Ain't that right, sweetheart?" " Eliot explained, trying to stall.</p><p>"I don't care if it's empty." Ennis said, before realizing Kaira was behind them.</p><p>"Oh, hello." Kaira put of a British accent as she pulled the belt of the far back guys neck, choking him out as Eliot took out the other guy, using the belt he pulled off of him, then used the belt to snack it in Ennis's face, then Kaira grabbed the gun, disarmed it, and punched him, knocking him out.</p><p>"I've quite enjoyed your company today..." Eliot mocked Ennis. "As well." Eliot muttered as he turned to Kaira, holding her belt in her hand.</p><p>"Kaira, if I wanted you to take your belt off, I would've just asked." Eliot smiled as he grabbed the belt and started threading it through her jean belt loops.</p><p>"I know. It's more fun if I take it off." Kaira teased as Eliot sinched the belt to the right amount.</p><p>Kaira finished putting the belt on and tied the goons up with their belts and left with Eliot.</p><p>The team got word that Keller had been detained for smuggling Russian Icons. See, Parker grabbed them when she was in the vault, and Hardison and Kaira used the icons as part of the box. And they also discovered the book was a forgery. And the storage unit was indeed not empty.</p><p>Once the heat died down, they went back to the airport and the little girl that was detained was now free and walking with Ibrahim towards Nate, Sophie, and Kaira. Eliot, Parker, and Hardison were a bit to the side, separated.</p><p>"I don't know how you did it, but thank you. Thank you very much." Ibrahim said as the trio stood up.</p><p>"You've touched so many lives without even knowing it." Ibrahim continued, grateful.</p><p>"Well, it's what we do." Nate said.</p><p>The little girl saw Eliot and her face lit up. Kaira chuckled as Eliot got down and spoke to her in Arabic.</p><p>She thanked Eliot, he high five her. Ibrahim joined her.</p><p>"Thank you so much." He said, shaking Eliot's hand.</p><p>He left with the girl in tow.</p><p>"The storage locker was not empty." Nate pointed out.</p><p>"No." Sophie said as they started walking to the group.</p><p>"In fact, it was filled with stolen artworks, antiquities." Nate said.</p><p>"Yeah, I read it in the newspaper." Kaira added.</p><p>"Your own personal stash?" Nate asked.</p><p>"That storage locker was filled with some of the very first things I ever stole." Sophie revealed.</p><p>"You got a lot of buried secrets in London, don't you?" Nate questioned as Hardison, Eliot, and Parker joined them.</p><p>"Archaeology of crime." Sophie said.</p><p>"Well, at least I know your real name." Nate pointed out.</p><p>"Unh-unh, no. That's not my real name. Charlotte was my stage name." Sophie said as the team stood in a circle.</p><p>"Hmm. Any news on Keller's auction payment?" Nate asked Hardison.</p><p>"Oh, yeah. In my trace, I peeled back 10 layers of security off an airborne wi-fi connection - airborne." Hardison revealed.</p><p>"You might be the greatest of all time, man." Eliot mocked slightly.</p><p>"Did you find anything, Hardison?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Yeah, I found 10 shell companies, one of which is actually a promising lead. It's called Slap Shot Investments run by Mark Vector." Hardison said.</p><p>Kaira recognized the name, and Eliot did too.</p><p>"Mark Vector, the hockey player? The Enforcer?" Eliot questioned.</p><p>"Great. Let's get him." Parker said.</p><p>"That's the problem. He struck a deal with the Feds. He's protected." Hardison revealed.</p><p>Nate got a smile on his face.</p><p>"What are you - what - what's the smile? What are you smiling at? What - what is that?" Hardison questioned.</p><p>"Nathan, no. I know that look." Kaira warned, knowing what it meant.</p><p>"Oh. Oh, no. No, no, no." Sophie said, also not liking that look.</p><p>"Oh, yeah. Let's go steal a Federal Witness." Nate said, leaving.</p><p>This was going to get interesting.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! Now, here is the chapterly Leverage edit!<br/>https://youtu.be/7gfCEJZNXtQ<br/>I figured this song made the most sense for the team. And, they're wanted people, so...<br/>Once again, I really hope you enjoyed this episode! To celebrate 5.5k reads on Wattpad, here are some facts/headcanons about Kaira!<br/>1.) She was born in 1983, making her at this point 27 years old. </p><p>2.) She is 11 years younger than Eliot, who at this point is 38 (I used Christian Kanes real age to calculate this). And not my only character with a large age gap. My MacGyver OC Mariah is 20 years younger than Russ Taylor, who is her husband.  </p><p>3.) Kaira and Eliot have a 50/50 relationship, as they share 50% of the responsibilities evenly. </p><p>4.) Kaira learns by observing her team. </p><p>5.) Kaira joined the army when she was 19, meaning she was 21 when she met Eliot, and he was 32, meaning she was in the army for 2 years before she met Eliot. </p><p>6.) Kaira buys Hardison candy and his soda, while she usually helps Parker with her gear. She usually buys beer and spices for Eliot to cook with. </p><p>7.) Kaira secretly likes it when Eliot gets pissed. </p><p>8.) She is the only one allowed to mess with Hardison's gear. </p><p>9.) Kaira likes sleeping with Eliot because her nightmares stopped. </p><p>10.) Kaira usually hates wearing makeup, but if wearing lipstick means she can mess with Eliot, then she will gladly. </p><p>And those are some Kaira facts! I hope you enjoyed this! Thank you for all the love on this series! Much love to you all! Stay safe everyone! </p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. The Morning After Job (3x13)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Next in the team's list of Moreaus associates to take down is former hockey player turned investment broker Mark Vector, aka Moreau's accountant. Their client, an old fan of Vector's from his playing days, approached them, saying Vector beat him up after he asked questions about his account after he lost his entire life savings. To get Vector to give up Moreau, the team takes advantage of Vector's anger issues and fakes Parker's death.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! I'm back with another chapter! We have only one more chapter left until we get to my favorite episode of season 3! This episode is going to be pretty funny, so let's get it started! Here is chapter 13 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nate was with the client, David Weibe, at one of the tables in the bar. He had stitches and strips over his face from getting punched in the face. He explained what happened. Apparently, he approached Vector about his accounts, saying he had been wiped out. Vector also realized he called the S.E.C and then beat him up. </p><p>"I got a broken orbital bone and 17 stitches over my eye from my hero." Weibe explained, still upset about the attack. </p><p>"What did the, uh, police say?" Nate asked. </p><p>"No witness, no crime. Oh, they said, "He's rich, so sue him." Of course, you need money for that." Weibe said. </p><p>"What about the S.E.C?" Nate asked. </p><p>"The S.E.C dismissed my complaint. It turns out that Mark Vector -- he cut some kind of deal with the government. I mean, what's going on?" Weibe said, frustrated. </p><p>"Well, in exchange for his testimony, he gets immunity for his past crimes." Nate explained. </p><p>"So, this guy spent my life savings on worthless stock, and then he -- he nearly killed me, a-and he's just gonna do it all over again?" Weibe questioned. </p><p>"Yeah, well, he's not gonna do it again. All right? He can run from the law. He's not gonna run from me. We're gonna make sure that this never happens again to anyone." Nate assured the client. </p><p>He sighed in relief. "Well, thank you, Mr. Ford." Weibe said. </p><p>He went to shake his hand. </p><p>"Thank you." Weibe said. </p><p>"All right." Nate said. </p><p>Nate was about to take a sip of his coffee when he heard a voice. </p><p>"I think it's cute, your little crusade -- how you need to right a wrong before you get a job done." The Italian woman said.</p><p>"My job is --" Nate said when The Italian cut him off. </p><p>"Your job is to bring me Moreau. I gave you six months. You are running out of time." The Italian said. </p><p>"I'm being thorough." Nate said. He slid a file down to The Italian. </p><p>"And besides, I found him." Nate said. </p><p>"Vector's connected to Moreau, isn't he?" Nate questioned. </p><p>"We think so." The Italian said. </p><p>"Listen, the reason I asked you to come down here today was to tell me anything I might need to know about Vector's deal with the Feds." Nate explained. </p><p>"Vector's slate is wiped clean after he testifies. Yours is wiped clean after you bring me Moreau. Does that clarify things?" The Italian explained. </p><p>She went to leave. </p><p>"And if I need help?" Nate asked. </p><p>The Italian looked back. </p><p>"Then you're not the man I thought you were. Ciao." The Italian left. </p><p>Nate finished his coffee and went upstairs to join the team all sitting at the table. </p><p>"Okay. Let's run it." Nate ordered, sitting on the right side of the table next to Sophie. </p><p>The team just kind of stood awkwardly. </p><p>"What?" Nate questioned. </p><p>"We know you just came back from seeing your little Italian friend." Sophie said. </p><p>"That we don't get to see." Hardison added. </p><p>"Or maybe she's his little imaginary Italian friend, hmm, like Pinocchio?" Parker suggested.</p><p>"How old are you?" Eliot asked Parker. </p><p>Parker just looked at Eliot before Sophie spoke up. </p><p>"The thing is, why do you insist on keeping us all in the dark about her?" Sophie asked Nate. </p><p>"We're taking down Damien Moreau. This is a guy who moves money for arms dealers, drug kingpins, terrorists. Pretty worthy goal, yes? We'd all agree. Now the fact that we don't have a choice in the matter I can barely stomach, so if we could just focus on our client and the guy who took his life savings, it'd be a good start. Now, run it." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison pulled up the briefing. </p><p>"Meet Mark Vector. His pro highlights -- 6 assists, 2 goals, 3,000 minutes in the penalty box." Hardison explained, having Vector's old hockey photo up. </p><p>"Yeah, I've got some tape on this guy. He can fight." Eliot said. </p><p>"You watch hockey fights alone at night in your room?" Sophie questioned Eliot. </p><p>"Yeah. You never know if you're gonna have to fight a guy on ice." Eliot said, like it wasn't a big deal,  causing Kaira to smile as she took a sip of coffee as Hardison cleared his throat. </p><p>"Just saying. Now, after his pro days, he turned his attention to the market, where he made a fortune picking stocks." Hardison explained. </p><p>"That's the myth. What's -- what's the truth?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Truth is, he's a huckster. He built an investment firm preying on his former hockey fans, like our client. Then, he started laundering money for underworld figures he met during his career." Hardison continued. </p><p>"Lucky for him, a Boston grand jury is about to indict some of his mob clients for money laundering, which makes Vector a very important witness." Nate explained. </p><p>"So, what does Vector have on Moreau?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"I don't know. So our job is to find that out before he testifies and gets immunity, which is happening tomorrow." Nate said. </p><p>"And let's not forget, we also have to get our client his money back." Parker pointed out. </p><p>"Well, look. I got Vector coming in at 5:00 on Vista Atlantic, flight 441. He's gonna be met by an FBI handler." Hardison explained.</p><p>"Part one of the plan -- meet him first." Nate said. </p><p>At the Airport</p><p>The team got ready. Parker, Nate, and Kaira went to the airport, and Parker was dressed like she came from a business flight. They started walking down the steps to get to the gate where Vector was coming from. </p><p>"I still don't know why Sophie or Kaira's not doing this part of the con." Parker said. </p><p>"Well, the con requires a carrot and a stick. I need Sophie to be the stick." Nate said. </p><p>"And I'm running interference." Kaira added. </p><p>"Well, remember that time I was the carrot and I stabbed somebody?" Parker questioned. </p><p>"Yeah." Kaira said. </p><p>"I do, yeah. No, you can handle it, especially the second part." Nate said. </p><p>"Well, yeah, the second part I can do in my sleep, literally." Parker said. </p><p>"Hey." Nate pointed to a man in the crowd.</p><p> "All right, look who the FBI assigned to pick up Vector." Nate said. </p><p>They spotted Agent McSweeten. </p><p>"If it isn't Agent McSweetheart himself." Kaira chuckled. </p><p>"He knows me." Parker went to hide behind Nate. </p><p>"Well, he knows you as a fellow FBI agent." Nate said. </p><p>"What are we gonna do?" Parker asked. </p><p>"Nathan, do you have the number of his field office?" Kaira asked, knowing a plan. </p><p>"Yeah, I do. We're gonna clear him right now." Nate said. </p><p>Parker stayed behind Nate as he called the field office. </p><p>"Uh, yeah, hey. Uh, this is Mark Vector. Uh, listen, my flight just got in, and, uh, someone was supposed to meet me here. And, uh." Nate chuckled. "Uh, flight 441, gate 31. Got in a half-hour ago. Listen, if no one's here in five minutes, I-I'm out of here." Nate hung up the phone.</p><p>"Hardison changed the arrival gate, so we should be good." Kaira said. </p><p>They watched McSweeten run to Gate 31. </p><p>Back to the briefing</p><p>"So, if Vector has an immunity agreement with the government, why on Earth would he speak to us?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"Well, he'd have to think that's he's in such big trouble for something that his immunity agreement was worthless. And he'd have to make a new deal." Nate said. </p><p>"And have to give up Moreau to get it." Sophie said. </p><p>"That's a lot of trouble we've got to come up with." Kaira pointed out. </p><p>"Well, what are his weaknesses, besides busting up the power play?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"He's got two big ones." Hardison pulled up an arrest record. "He's got a violent temper, and he likes to party. Talking bar fights, D.U.I's, you name it." Hardison explained. </p><p>"All right, so, when his partying gets him into hot water, who does he call?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Ghostbusters!" Parker exclaimed, causing Kaira to burst out laughing. </p><p>"Wow. Again?" Eliot said, annoyed with Parker. </p><p>"Parker." Nate warned. </p><p>"He calls Daniel Firestone." Hardison pulled up his image and looked at Parker. "He's Boston's finest fixer-lawyer." Hardison said. </p><p>"Part two of the plan -- Sophie, steal his lawyer." Nate said.</p><p>At the courthouse</p><p>Sophie caught Firestone just as he got to court, offered him a ticket to Japan to help her, and recorded their interaction. </p><p>Back at the Briefing</p><p>"Now, that'd get me what I need, but how do we get Vector so panicked that he's forced to call Firestone?" Hardison questioned.</p><p>"He likes to party. Let's throw him a party." Nate said. </p><p>At the airport</p><p>Nate, Parker, and Kaira saw someone bump into Vector. </p><p>"There he is." Nate said. </p><p>"You're up." Nate said. </p><p>Parker was hesitant to go. </p><p>"You okay?" Kaira asked her. </p><p>"Mm-hmm." Parker hummed, saying she was good, and smiled nervously. </p><p>"Repeat after me -- don't stab." Nate said. </p><p>"Don't stab." Parker repeated, chuckling. </p><p>The trio kept repeating "don't stab" as Parker walked up to Vector. Parker looked at Vector's luggage bag. </p><p>"I think you grabbed my bag off the carousel." Parker said. </p><p>"Uh, yeah. No, I don't think so." Vector said. </p><p>"Oh. God. I can't believe it. They lost my luggage." Parker said, getting out her phone. </p><p>"That's no problem. Where you headed?" Vector asked Parker. </p><p>"Uh, North Side. I just got off the worst flight from Detroit." Parker chuckled. </p><p>"Hey, you look familiar. Do I know you?" Parker asked Vector. </p><p>"I'm pretty sure I'd remember you. I used to play a little hockey." Vector said. </p><p>Parker gasped, acting like she remembered who Vector was. </p><p>"Oh, my gosh, you're Mark Vector! Oh! I went to a game once where you hit a guy so hard, you cracked his helmet in half." Parker exclaimed, stroking his ego. </p><p>"Ah, yes, Marty Levesque." Vector said. </p><p>Parker laughed. </p><p>"What can I say? Guy takes a cheap shot at me, I see red. You, uh -- you want to grab a drink?" Vector flirted a bit. </p><p>"Yeah. After that flight, I think I need one. I know a great bar. It's right by my place." Parker said as she walked with Vector. </p><p>"Oh, yeah? How convenient." Vector said. </p><p>By this point, Nate and Kaira were sitting in a cafe, watching Parker and Vector leave. </p><p>"Good work. Now comes the tricky part." Nate said. </p><p>"You're doing amazing, Parker." Karia complimented Parker as they left. </p><p>Later that night at McRory's Bar</p><p>Parker and Vector flirted throughout the night as Kaira acted as the bartender. She kept giving Vector drinks to get him drunk and also buttering him up for Parker, who noticed his phone background and wasn't really drinking. Sophie was up in the office, hearing how it was playing out between them. </p><p>"Parker, you're trying to seduce the guy. Remember your persona is sexy tomboy. Just -- just do it like we practiced." Sophie said. </p><p>Kaira was by the taps, getting beer for the other patrons that were there. </p><p>"Parker, remember, imagine me flirting with Eliot, but keep it more subtle." Kaira whispered. </p><p>"Just -- I don't know -- punch the guy in the arm." Sophie suggested. </p><p>Parker took a shot and did just that. Kaira was about to tell Parker off, but Vector seemed to like it, convinced Parker was just flirting with him. Sophie switched the screen over to look like an aquarium and Nate cleaned out his room to make it look like Parkers and drugging a whiskey glass. Kaira continued watching Parker and Vector flirting. It was a moment before Sophie spoke. </p><p>"Everything set up there?" Sophie asked Nate as he went down the steps. </p><p>"Yeah. Let's clear out. Parker, mi casa es su casa." Nate said as Sophie and he left. </p><p>Parker and Vector laughed and then Parker stood up and went behind Vector. </p><p>"You know how I said my apartment was near the bar?" Parker told Vector quietly. </p><p>"Yeah." Vector whispered. </p><p>"It's actually upstairs from the bar." Parker revealed. </p><p>Parker and Vector left to go upstairs. Parker and Vector had drinks and the drugged glass was given to Vector, knocking him out. Kaira was soon behind and heard Vector falling on the bed. She went in and helped Parker with her makeup to make it seem as she was dead, making her face blue.</p><p>In the morning</p><p>They waited until the morning. Eliot and Hardison were in the van, making it seem as if Firestone was answering Vector's panicked phonecall. Though, mostly it was Eliot and Hardison fighting over the controls. Once Vector hung up, Eliot went on comms. </p><p>"All right, Nate, the guy in bed with the dead hooker con is up and running." Eliot said. </p><p>"Hey, man, it's called the Vegas Wake-Up Call." Hardison argued. </p><p>"No, it's not, all right? In The Vegas Wake-up call, the boyfriend shows up." Eliot argued. </p><p>"No, he doesn't." Hardison argued. </p><p>"Yes, he does!" Eliot argued. </p><p>Nate, Sophie, and Kaira were sitting at a table in the bar, which was closed for the moment. </p><p>"Oh, just shut up, both of you." Kaira scolded both of the boys. </p><p>"Uh, let's go over this one more time. Now, getting Vector to think he's in trouble is just the beginning. I need to get him to trust me as his lawyer, which means, I need to get him to confess." Nate explained. </p><p>"Then I go in as the prosecutor and offer him a new immunity deal in exchange for what he knows about Moreau." Sophie added. </p><p>"Now, in order for Sophie to be able to do that, she is gonna need the original immunity agreement with Vector's signature on it. She's gonna need to hold it in her hands, be able to quote from it, rub his nose in it." Nate said. </p><p>"That's your job, boys." Kaira said. </p><p>Hardison and Eliot got the message, turning around and placing their caps in the right direction. </p><p>"So... it's the lawyer, the prosecutor, the deal, and the dead girl in the bed." Sophie said. </p><p>Kaira smiled. </p><p>"It's the Cuban Sandwich." Kaira said, getting a smile from Sophie and Nate, confirming her choice. </p><p>It took a bit, but Hardison and Eliot made it to the courthouse. </p><p>"Nate, we're on our way to the courthouse." Eliot reported in, walking with Hardison. </p><p>"Check it out. The cop aliases I created are so foolproof, I was able to get an official squad car from the Boston P.D." Hardison explained, going to the passenger side of the cop car, Eliot on the driver's side. </p><p>"8017, Baby." Hardison said, proud of himself. </p><p class="">"Maybe next time, you can get us a fire truck." Eliot said sarcastically before scowling at Hardison. </p><p>"Really? Just rude like that, huh, really?" Hardison wasn't pleased. </p><p>"In the car." Eliot ordered Hardison as they got in. </p><p>Meanwhile, Sophie, Nate, and Kaira were sitting at a booth, letting Vector panic some more. "Well, he's in a panic waiting for his lawyer. Shouldn't you be getting up there?" Sophie questioned Nate. </p><p>"Nah, a little time will soften him up. I learned that from you." Nate looked at Sophie, flirting a tad. </p><p>Sophie and Nate chuckled as Kaira just sat awkwardly. </p><p>"This reminds me of old times. You know, you on one side, me on the other." Sophie said, smiling a tad. Nate chuckled. </p><p>"Yeah, I actually prefer us on the same side." Nate said. </p><p>Kaira moved to let Nate out of the seat, and Sophie got out of the booth and Kaira sat back down. </p><p>"Are you worried?" Sophie asked Nate. </p><p>"About you? Never." Nate said, getting on his jacket. </p><p>"All right, then. Go get him." Sophie said, fixing Nate's suit. </p><p>Kaira cleared her throat and handed the briefcase to Nate. He left and Sophie sat back down across from Kaira. Kaira chuckled and Sophie looked at her. </p><p>"What?" Sophie questioned. </p><p>"You know, Sophie, you're more important to this team than you realize." Kaira said. </p><p>"So are you." Sophie said. </p><p>"Thank you, but when any of us have problems, it's you we go to. You keep Nate in line, and you keep him from going over the edge. You are our touchstone." Kaira looked at Sophie. </p><p>"What's a touchstone?" Sophie asked. </p><p>Kaira chuckled. </p><p>"It's a metaphor. A touchstone is someone who grounds you. Someone who helps pick up the pieces after you've broken down. You're all of our touchstones." Kaira explained, smiling at Sophie. </p><p>Sophie smiled back. </p><p>"I think we are each other's touchstones." Sophie said. </p><p>Kaira chuckled, realizing Sophie was right. </p><p>"Yeah." Kaira said quietly. </p><p>Meanwhile, Eliot and Hardison were at the courthouse, walking in to get the immunity agreement for Sophie. </p><p>"The agreement's in there with the grand jury. There's probably 50-some-odd people in there, man. How do you suggest we get it out?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"What don't you get about foolproof?" Hardison said quietly to Eliot as they approached a female guard at the entrance to the courtroom. </p><p>"Hey, how you doing?" Eliot said to the woman. </p><p>"Hey, hey, excuse me. Would you mind going in there and telling Prosecutor LaPointe that Officer Farber is out here to speak to her about Mark Vector?" Hardison asked the woman. </p><p>"Sure thing." The woman said, leaving. </p><p>"Officer who? Who?" Eliot questioned Hardison. </p><p>The prosecutor came out. </p><p>"Is Vector here?" She asked them. </p><p>"N-no. No, we couldn't bring him. They said we needed to get a subpoena first." Hardison said. </p><p>"Subpoena." Eliot reiterated. </p><p>"Who told you that? That is not true." LaPointe said, not happy. </p><p>"It was, uh, Perry, our desk sergeant, that said, uh, thing about the special case. We needed some more files more something. Y-you know what he said." Hardison turned to Eliot for backup. </p><p>"He said, uh... 10B-6 or 10B-7." Eliot tried to help. </p><p>"No. He said the allergies--" Hardison brushed off. </p><p>Then Hardison and Eliot started arguing, and LaPointe just shoved the file to Hardison. </p><p>"Here, just take the whole file! Make whatever copies you need, and get Vector down here now!" LaPointe exclaimed. </p><p>She walked away. </p><p>"Yes, ma'am." Eliot said. </p><p>They turned around to leave, not happy with each other when LaPointe got their attention. </p><p>"Hey, you two. Wait." LaPointe called to them. </p><p>"See?" Eliot said quietly, not happy as they turned around. </p><p>"I've got a witness who just got off the stand who needs to go back to county lockup." LaPointe said. </p><p>"Like, a-a grand jury witness? That's a prisoner that you want us to take back to jail?" Hardison questioned as Eliot just shook his head no, trying to not get Hardison in trouble. </p><p>"It's right by your precinct. I'll send him out." LaPointe said as she went to get the witness. </p><p>"I got stuff to do today. My -- it's my mama birthday. I..." Hardison tried to decline. </p><p>Eliot patted Hardison on the chest. </p><p>"Good job, man. Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot growled. </p><p>"Shut up, man." Hardison told Eliot off. </p><p>"What are we gonna do with another guy with us, man?" Eliot asked Hardison. </p><p>"We the police. Shut up, shut up. We the police." Hardison said, leaving with Eliot to meet the witness. </p><p>Back at the office, Nate knocked on the door. </p><p>"Yeah." Vector said. </p><p>"It's Adam Greaves." Nate introduced himself and Vector opened the door. </p><p>"Mr. Greaves, thank god you're here. Listen, this is not my fault. All right? I got no idea what happened." Vector said, freaking out and relieved. </p><p>"Where's the girl?" Nate asked. </p><p>"She's upstairs." Vector said. </p><p>They went upstairs. Nate put on some gloves as Vector just stood at the foot of the bed. </p><p>"It's bad, isn't it?" Vector asked Nate. </p><p>"Well, it's your DNA that's underneath her fingernails. Yes, it does look pretty bad." Nate said as he grabbed Parker's hand and looked at her fingernails, then dropped her hand. </p><p>"Yeah, and I counted three surveillance cameras, which I am sure have footage of you accompanying this woman into this apartment." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"But I-I didn't do anything." Vector defended himself. </p><p>"And your witness to that is, where, under the bed? Come on, you got enough evidence here to convict you of first-degree manslaughter. Now, who is she?" Nate said, grabbing her wallet. </p><p>Vector showed he didn't know. </p><p>"Let's start there." Nate looked at Vector. </p><p>"I don't know. I met her in the airport!" Vector exclaimed, not knowing what else to say. </p><p>"Yeah, well, you're gonna tell me everything you and "Alice White" did last night. Now, go clean yourself up." Nate said. Vector stood there anxious. </p><p>"Come on!" Nate exclaimed. </p><p>"Yeah." Vector left. </p><p>Meanwhile, back at the cop car, Eliot and Hardison's witness that needed transporting was in the back and of course, Eliot and Hardison were fighting. </p><p>"Foolproof cop aliases?!" Eliot yelled at Hardison. </p><p>"Somebody said they were getting me some water." The witness said. </p><p>"Look, man, who got us the car? Who got us the Vector file? Who?" Hardison questioned Eliot. </p><p>"Where is my water, man?" The witness asked again. </p><p>"You do this every time, man! You take it too far!" Eliot exclaimed. </p><p>"You're always complaining, man! It's a little detour!" Hardison argued. </p><p>"Could somebody turn on the A.C?" The witness asked, the poor guy was scared. </p><p>"Shut up!" Both Eliot and Hardison yelled at him.</p><p>Kaira was at the booth, and Sophie was at the window, listening to everything. </p><p>"Hardison, last time you took it too far, we wound up getting kidnapped, and I had to keep you from running your mouth and getting us killed! Oh, and Eliot had to save our asses." Kaira said. </p><p>"Seriously, Kaira? We had it under control." Hardison tried to argue. </p><p>"No, you didn't. I was fine and would have gotten us out if you hadn't taken our covers too far!" Kaira argued with Hardison.</p><p>"Woman--" Hardison was about to argue with Kaira. </p><p>"No, don't "woman" me. Just do your damn job." Kaira said. </p><p>We got up to grab a drink and to open the bar and saw Sophie looking at the window. </p><p>"Oops. We have company." Sophie said. </p><p>Kaira walked up to her at the window. </p><p>"What now?" Kaira asked, and saw the problem. </p><p>"An old friend." Sophie said as Nate, Kaira, and Sophie saw McSweeten crossing the road. </p><p>"Uh oh." Kaira said, knowing this wasn't good. </p><p>"Yeah, he must have tracked the cab using traffic cameras." Nate said. </p><p>"What are we gonna do, Nate?" Sophie asked, sitting down nearby. </p><p>"We're not ready to close Vector yet. Okay. Well, we could use McSweeten to our advantage. Uh, we got to have someone on his hip. Someone -- someone --" Nate looked at Parker, still on the bed. </p><p>"Someone he trusts." Nate said. </p><p>"You've got to be kidding me!" Parker exclaimed, quietly. </p><p>"Your part is over. All we got to do is keep him out of the bedroom." Nate said quietly. </p><p>Parker sat up. </p><p>"Well, how am I supposed to get downstairs?" Parker asked. </p><p>Nate went to his closet and opened it, revealing some repel gear. Parker looked confused. </p><p>"What, like, you don't have one of these in your closet?" Nate questioned Parker. </p><p>Parker agreed and motioned for Nate to give it to her. </p><p>"Parker, I'm gonna stall. Just get down here." Kaira said, getting ready by taking her hair out of her ponytail. </p><p>"Why can't Kaira be the one on his hip?" Parker silently asked Nate. </p><p>"Cause I'm not the one he has a crush on." Kaira retorted as she got ready to meet McSweeten at the entrance. </p><p>"What?" Parker asked Kaira as she got the rig ready. </p><p>"Parker, not now." Kaira groaned. </p><p>"Guys, where are you? I need that immunity agreement now." Sophie said, sitting down. </p><p>Eliot and Hardison were in the police car, sirens on. </p><p>"We are on our way." Hardison said. </p><p>"Guys, I don't feel good." The witness said. </p><p>"Hey, you better not throw up in this car." Eliot told the guy. </p><p>"No, I can't help it." The witness said. </p><p>"I'm serious. I'm starting to spit a lot." The guy said when a call came over the scanner for a code 16 with a weapon. </p><p>"Don't go so fast." The witness said, looking like he wanted to puke. </p><p>"Hey, that's right up there." Eliot said. </p><p>"Hmm?" Hardison hummed. </p><p>"We're taking this." Eliot said, grabbing the radio. </p><p>"No, we're not. No, we're not." Hardison argued. </p><p>"We're taking this." Eliot said. </p><p>He clicked to talk to the walkie. </p><p>"Dispatch, this is 8017, responding." Eliot said, putting the radio away. </p><p>"No, it ain't." Hardison argued. </p><p>"Yes, it is. We're taking this, man." Eliot said. </p><p>"No, it ain't." Hardison argued. </p><p>"We're taking it right now. Pull over." Eliot argued. </p><p>"No, we're not. Whatever happened to the detour and you were just complaining and yelling and all that?" Hardison argued. </p><p>"There's somebody up there with a weapon, all right?! There could be kids in the house, Hardison, all right?!" Eliot argued. </p><p>"It could be a gang shoot-out!" Hardison argued. </p><p>"Come on, man. Just pull over right now!" Eliot yelled at Hardison before looking back and seeing that the witness was dry heaving. </p><p>"Don't throw up in the backseat, man! Did you just throw up?! Pullover, Hardison." Eliot argued before they fought over the wheel. </p><p>Hardison and Eliot arrived and heard a guy yelling for a woman. </p><p>"This has become a mess." Hardison said, getting out. </p><p>"What the hell are we doing here?" Hardison asked Eliot as they walked up the driveway. </p><p>"What do you mean, what are we doing? This is a call, we got to take it." Eliot told Hardison before yelling at the guy to get his attention. </p><p>"What's the problem, man? We got a call about a man with a weapon." Eliot said. </p><p>"I'm not the one with the weapon! She's the one with the weapon!" The man yelled looking towards the door as a woman came out with a baseball bat in one hand, phone in the other. </p><p>"Ooh." Hardison said, realizing this was a domestic dispute. </p><p>"You show them those text messages you got from that skank?!" The woman yelled.</p><p>"She's your sister!" The man yelled as Eliot and Hardison tried to separate them. </p><p>"Settle down, ma'am." Eliot told the woman. </p><p>"Step-sister! And she's next, don't you worry!" The woman yelled at the man. </p><p>Hardison kept the man back as Eliot dealt with the woman. </p><p>"Settle down, all right? Let me have the bat." Eliot said, trying to difuse the situation. </p><p>"Look at these pictures!" The woman yelled, putting the phone in Eliot's face. </p><p>He had one hand on the bat. </p><p>"I'm looking at anything until you give me the bat!" Eliot yelled at the woman. </p><p>"She's crazy!" The man yelled. </p><p>"Quiet, quiet!" Hardison told the man, keeping him back. </p><p>"Her whole family's crazy!" The man yelled at the woman, who went off. </p><p>"You shut up about my family!" The woman went to go after the man, but Eliot stopped her. </p><p>"Give me the bat!" Eliot said. </p><p>The woman let go and Eliot threw the bat down. </p><p>"Dang it! Are there any kids in here?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"No! He can't have any kids! He smokes too much weed!" The woman yelled, still angry. </p><p>"I didn't ask that!" Eliot exclaimed. </p><p>"Hash smoking!" The man pointed out, still upset. </p><p>"I asked you a simple yes or no question! Are there any kids in the house?!" Eliot repeated. </p><p>"No!" The woman yelled. </p><p>"All right! Now sit down and be quiet!" Eliot ordered the woman. </p><p>She didn't move. </p><p>"Sit your ass down on the bumper!" Eliot yelled again. </p><p>The woman sat down, calmer. </p><p>"Don't talk about my woman like that." The guy said before tackling Hardison down as the woman shouted encouragement to the man and Eliot got involved and kept the woman back as Hardison body slammed him on the ground. </p><p>Back at the bar, Kaira was behind the bar, serving as McSweeten walked in. </p><p>"Special Agent McSweeten, FBI." He introduced himself to Kaira before she turned to face him, walking up to the bar as she cleaned a glass. </p><p>"Lauren Reynolds. What can I do for you?" Kaira smiled at him, using her British accent. </p><p>"Um, I was wondering, have you seen this man?" He asked Kaira, showing her a photo of Vectors mugshot as he looked her up and down.</p><p>"I don't think I've seen him, no. I mean, I only work dayshift, so, maybe try again with the nightshift." Kaira said, innocently as she saw Parker repelling down. </p><p>"You do look familiar to me." McSweeten said. </p><p>"I was a guidance counsler. This is more of a side job." Kaira smiled a tad. </p><p>"Oh, right!" McSweeten said, realizing who Kaira was. </p><p>"Well, thank you for your time." McSweeten said as he turned around and put the picture away and saw Parker. </p><p>"Special Agent Hagen. Hi." He said. </p><p>"Hi!" Parker chuckled. </p><p>"Good to see you." Parker said. </p><p>"Yeah! Yeah." McSweeten said as he went to hug Parker, but instead went for the handshake. </p><p>"Well, uh, I haven't seen you since, uh, we took down Daniel Fowler at that private school." McSweeten said. </p><p>"Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, I've been undercover." Parker explained. </p><p>"Oh." McSweeten said.</p><p>"Deep, deep cover." Parker whispered. </p><p>"Oh, cool." McSweeten said. </p><p>He then noticed the makeup still on Parker's lips. Kaira looked away. </p><p>"Parker, I told you to use the makeup remover I gave you to remove the FX makeup." Kaira scolded Parker silently. </p><p>"Oh, uh, nothing. It's just that your -- your lips are -- well, they're kind of blue." McSweeten pointed out. </p><p>"Oh." Parker realized. </p><p>"Oh, yeah, well... it's part of my alias. You know, with the Russians? It's probably cause it's been really cold there." Parker brushed it off. </p><p>"Right." McSweeten said. </p><p>"Matter of fact, we should probably go talk outside." Parker said. </p><p>"Oh, okay." McSweeten said. </p><p>He walked with Parker outside when her phone rang and grabbed it. </p><p>"Oh. Oh, that's Yuri, my informant. I got to get this, but I'll -- I'll meet you outside in just a second." Parker said. </p><p>"All right." McSweeten said, leaving. </p><p>"Da." Parker said. </p><p>Kaira smiled as she watched Parker leave. </p><p>Meanwhile, Nate was upstairs with Vector, calming him down. </p><p>"Hey, Vector. Recognize him?" Nate asked Vector, standing at the window. </p><p>"I saw him pull up when I got here." Nate said. </p><p>"That's my FBI handler. I've been ducking his calls all morning. What the hell are we gonna do?" Vector said, worried. </p><p>"All right, you got to stay out of sight. All right? Until he leaves, we're stuck here." Nate said, pushing Vecter away from the window. </p><p>Nate saw a flash from the opposite building and went back. </p><p>Back at the domestic dispute call, Eliot and Hardison were walking back to the car. Hardison had the bat in his hand. </p><p>"Taking that as a souvenir?" Eliot asked Hardison. </p><p>"Hey, I didn't get to arrest nobody. Might as well. Look, man, we get the Vector file back to Sophie and your wife, we're back on track, huh?" Hardison said as Eliot looked in the backseat. </p><p>Eliot popped his head up. </p><p>"What?" Hardison asked. </p><p>"Think we're missing something?" Eliot asked Hardison. </p><p>"No, we got the file, I got my bat. I'm good." Hardison said. </p><p>"The prisoner, man! He's gone!" Eliot yelled, smacking the car. </p><p>Hardison looked in the back window and saw the prisoner wasn't there. </p><p>"He couldn't have gotten far. Let's go!" Eliot ordered, running. </p><p>"Got to be kidding me." Hardison said. </p><p>Back at the bar, Sophie was sitting at a booth, a drink in hand and Kaira was sitting across from her. </p><p>"You're on, Nate. Let's see you get a man to confess to a crime he didn't commit." Sophie said.</p><p>Back upstairs, Nate poured some whiskey into the glass. </p><p>"What happened here last night?" Nate asked Vector, who was sitting at the table. </p><p>"I told you, I blacked out." Vector said. </p><p>Nate walked over with the glass. </p><p>"Listen, you're protected with attorney client privilege. Okay? So it stays right here. But you got to open up. You got to tell me what happened. I mean, come on, it's--" Nate scoffed. "This is bad." Nate said. </p><p>"We were, uh... we were just playing around, you know? She was, uh..." Vector said. </p><p>"She was what?" Nate asked. </p><p>"She was punching me in the arm. It was, uh -- it was her way of flirting." Vector said, taking a sip of the drink Nate poured to calm down. </p><p>"Any chance she, uh, might have, uh, missed your arm and clocked you in the face?" Nate asked Vector. </p><p>"It's possible." Vector said, taking another sip. </p><p>"Okay. I want you to close your eyes now." Nate said. </p><p>"What?" Vector questioned Nate. </p><p>"Yeah, just close your eyes. Just close your eyes. Come on. That's it." Vector closed his eyes and breathed hard. </p><p>"Now see the scene. You're with this girl, right? You like her and everything. The two of you are playing around. She punches you, you punch her back. You're playing around and everything. She punches you, she misses. She scratches your face." Nate switched gears. </p><p>"You put your arms around her throat! You start choking her! And you're killing her, you're choking her! You're so furious, you're--" Nate exclaimed, getting Vector worked up. </p><p>"I got a temper, okay?!" Vector yelled, standing up and paced. </p><p>"Somebody punched me, I see red! It's not my fault!" Vector argued, trying to calm down. </p><p>"Sure." Nate said, also trying to calm Vector down. </p><p>"It's not my fault." Vector went to sit down again. </p><p>"Okay. You see? See, see? Now that you're honest with me, I can help you. All right?" Nate said, calming down Vector as he got out his phone. </p><p>"Who are you calling?" Vector asked. </p><p>"I'm calling a friend in the U.S Attorney's office. Gonna get you a new deal." Nate said. </p><p>"Yeah?" Vector said, taking another drink. </p><p>Nate chuckled. </p><p>"Oh, yeah, yeah." Nate said. </p><p>Kaira turned around again to hide her face. </p><p>"Boys, please hurry with the file." Kaira whispered. </p><p>Back at the incident site, Eliot and Hardison searched for their prisoner. </p><p>"Hey, that's him, isn't it?" Hardison said, gesturing to a man ahead of them. </p><p>"No, it's another guy dressed in Khaki, wearing handcuffs, with one shoe on." Eliot growled at Hardison, starting to walk towards him. </p><p>"What's the attitude, man? It wasn't my idea to stop." Hardison argued.</p><p>"Shut up. Let's go, let's go!" Eliot yelled as he stated running towards the guy.</p><p>Hardison was following behind. </p><p>"Hey! Don't run!" Hardison yelled as he threw a shoe at the prisoner, and hit him the back of his head, causing him to stop and Eliot tackled him, ramming into a car. </p><p>"You all right?" Hardison asked as Eliot got up. </p><p>"Where do you think you're going, boy?" Eliot asked him, standing to the side of the downed prisoner. </p><p>"You guys -- you guys can't take me back to jail!" The guy exclaimed. </p><p>"What, you're carsick, you got jailsick, too?" Hardison questioned him. </p><p>"No, no, no. cause of what I -- what I told the grand jury about the dirty cops!" The guy explained. </p><p>"Nice try. The grand jury is investigating money laundering." Eliot pointed out, unamused. </p><p>"Yeah, yeah, money laundering by -- by dirty cops!" The guy exclaimed. </p><p>Eliot and Hardison looked at each other, knowing he had a point. </p><p>"They sandbagged me. You guys take me back to jail now, they're gonna find me hanging in my cell!" The guy continued explaining, sounding genuinely scared. </p><p>Then he turned over and puked. </p><p>"Oh." Eliot groaned and turned away. </p><p>"Aw, c-come on, man." Hardison groaned, also turning away. </p><p>Back at the bar, Parker returned with McSweeten and walked in the bar. Kaira was still behind the bar. </p><p>"So, your assignment must really be secret. Been trying to find you for months." McSweeten said. </p><p>"Listen, I know about Vector." Parker told McSweeten. </p><p>He sighed. </p><p>"If we're gonna find him, we have to go over everything we know." Parker said, still walking with McSweeten. </p><p>"So I guess the whole Bureau knows I lost him at the airport, huh?" McSweeten said. </p><p>"Yeah. Why didn't you say something?" Parker asked him, leaving the seating area. </p><p>"Ever since the Moscone and Fowler case, they've been moving me and Taggert up the ladder, you know?" McSweeten said as Parker shut the door to the back room. </p><p>"Where is Taggert anyway?" Parker asked. </p><p>"Oh, he's teaching Krav Maga at Quantico this week. That's why I'm solo. I figured I could find Vector on my own. You know, no harm, no foul? Now the cat's out of the bag, I guess it's back to Kansas for me." McSweeten said, disappointed in himself and Parker felt bad. </p><p>Just then, Eliot and Hardison showed up at the bar. </p><p>"You don't even drive 25 in a 25 mile an hour zone." Eliot argued with Eliot. </p><p>"Say what? Say one more thing. Say -- say one more thing." Hardison argued back as they walked to Sophie, still sitting at the booth. Kaira stayed behind the bar. </p><p>"Where were you guys? Playing ball?" Sophie asked them. </p><p>"No place you would ever want to go." Hardison said. </p><p>Eliot laid the file on the table. </p><p>"Is that the immunity agreement?" Sophie asked. </p><p>She looked at the file and got up and walked in between them. </p><p>"Hey." Eliot said, causing Sophie to turn around. </p><p>"Something about this doesn't make sense." Eliot said, concerned, trying to think of it. </p><p>Kaira also heard through the comms and was trying to make sense of what she had heard. </p><p>"Oh. You want to know what doesn't make sense? Trying to pull off The Cuban Sandwich without a dead hooker." Sophie said, walking away. </p><p>"One, Alice White was not a hooker. Two, just say the less you see the better. It ain't that complicated. Just keep him out of the bedroom." Kaira whispered, ducking behind the bar, acting like she was grabbing a glass. </p><p>"Did she say Cuban Sandwich?" Hardison asked Eliot. </p><p>"Hey! It's The Vegas Wake-Up Call!" Hardison yelled to Sophie. </p><p>"It's Vegas, man." Hardison told Eliot. </p><p>"Shut up." Eliot groaned as they went to the bar. </p><p>Back upstairs, Sophiek knocked on the door. </p><p>"Ah. O-okay." Nate said, getting up out of his seat. </p><p>Nate went to the door and opened it and let Sophie in. </p><p>"Uh, Mark Vector. Uh, Karen Regan, Justice Department." Nate introduced Sophie as they walked up to the table. </p><p>"Let's skip the pleasantries, shall we?" Sophie said, sitting her briefcase on the island. </p><p>"So, the dead girl is, uh -- she's upstairs. But there's these mitigating, uh, factors. In fact --" Nate said when Sophie cut him off. </p><p>"The less I see, the better. Shall we?" Sophie said. </p><p>"Okay." Nate said, sitting down. </p><p>"How do I know she can get me out of this, that she can get me a new deal?" Vector asked. "Just..." Nate stopped Vector. </p><p>Sophie pulled the agreement out of the file she had. </p><p>"On July 17th, you agreed to assist the U.S Government in a money-laundering probe. You identified clients engaged in these crimes, including Patrick Calderone and J.J Hughes. Is this your signature?" Sophie said, laying the file on the table. </p><p>"Yeah, it's my signature." Vector confirmed. </p><p>"Now, I can walk you out of here a free man, but you're gonna have to do better than ratting out a couple of wannabe gangsters. To get immunity from this sordid affair, you're gonna have to give me a game changer. You're gonna have to give me Damien Moreau." Sophie explained. </p><p>Vector scoffed. </p><p>"You got to be kidding me, lady." Vector dismissed the idea. </p><p>"What, you think I'm kidding, huh? You think we didn't know you were holding out on us? Playtime is over, Jack." Sophie said. </p><p>"Okay, gonna have to talk to my client." Nate said. </p><p>"No! This is not a negotiation! There is a dead girl upstairs! He gives me something that saves lives, or I walk." Sophie argued. </p><p>"Walk. Okay, we're done." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie grabbed her file. </p><p>"Fine." Sophie said. </p><p>"Enjoy your time in state prison, Mr. Vector." Sophie said. </p><p>Vector said for Sophie to wait. </p><p>Nate stood up to stop Vector. </p><p>"No, no, no. You don't have to give up Moreau. We can beat this." Nate told Vector. </p><p>"Yeah, and spend the next three years of my life on CNN as the next O.J? Forget about it. You want Moreau? You got him." Vector said. </p><p>"I know where he keeps his money. I helped him park some of it in my fund." Vector revealed. </p><p>Sophie took a few steps forward. </p><p>"I need specifics." Sophie said. </p><p>"I know everything -- routing numbers, country codes, account numbers." Vector said. </p><p>Nate walked behind Vector and mouthed "Where?" to Sophie, indicated for her to pry more. </p><p>"Where?" Sophie asked Vector as Nate brushed off going behind him. </p><p>"Nowhere. It's not written down, it's not on a drive, it's not in a cloud. It's encrypted, and only I know how to break the code." Vector said. </p><p>Nate walked away.</p><p>"Moreau helped fund that, uh, nightclub bombing in Cyprus last month. Now let me ask you, Counsler... is that worth the life of an ice bunny who got in over her head?" Vector told Sophie. </p><p>Meanwhile, Eliot and Hardison were talking with Kaira at the bar, Hardison still holding the bat behind his head. </p><p>"See? I told you." Eliot said, looking at the boor. </p><p>"Well, hey." Hardison said. </p><p>Kaira saw what Eliot as looking at. Four men came in. </p><p>"It's a little early for cops in a bar, isn't it?" Eliot said. </p><p>"You mean those are the dirty cops the kid was talking about? How do you know?" Hardison asked Eliot. </p><p>"Their shoes. Look at their shoes." Eliot said. </p><p>Hardison did, and saw that the shoes they were wearing were shoes cops wore. </p><p>"What you thinking?" Hardison asked the couple. </p><p>"Can't take these guys out in a roomful of people." Eliot said before getting on comms. </p><p>Kaira thought a moment. </p><p>"Nate, there's a bunch of dirty cops down here to kill Vector." Eliot said. </p><p>Nate was looking out a window. </p><p>"Something isn't quite right." Nate said quietly. </p><p>"So don't take them out in the bar." Kaira turned away to hide her face and chuckled. </p><p>Eliot and Hardison got the memo. </p><p>Parker took McSweeten to another room right beside the dining hall. </p><p>"Look, the cab dropped off Vector in front of this building. He's probably in one of the lofts upstairs." McSweeten said as Parker walked backwards to the door. </p><p>"Why do you think that?" Parker said, hitting her head off the wall. </p><p>"Uh. He was with this bimbo. She probably lives here." McSweeten said.</p><p>Kaira groaned slightly. </p><p>"What is up with these boys not respecting women?" Kaira muttered to herself. </p><p>"How do you know she was a bimbo? Why wasn't she his sister?" Parker grabbed McSweetens tie and pulled it, ready to choke him. </p><p>"Um, uh..." McSweeten chuckled, causing Parker to let go. </p><p>"Anyway, good point, searching the building. We should do that. Start with the first floor, Make our way up from there." Parker suggested. </p><p>"Okay." McSweeten said. </p><p>"Okay." Parker said before running into McSweeten. </p><p>"Oop! Elevator's this way." Parker said, going to the elevator and dragging McSweeten behind her. </p><p>"The elevator. I'm on it." Hardison said before leaving. </p><p>Nate was still looking out the window. </p><p>"Hey, Vector, can I have a word?" Nate asked.</p><p>Vector walked over to the window. </p><p>"Does Moreau know you have all this information?" Nate asked Vector. </p><p>"No idea." Vector said. </p><p>"I bet he does now." Nate said. </p><p>Just then, a machine gun fired, causing both Nate and Vector to dive to get to cover. Everyone could hear it over comms. </p><p>"What the hell is this?! What's going on?!" Vector asked Nate as Sophie spun into the island. </p><p>"You've been found out by Moreau. Any idea how?" Nate asked Vector, but he ran to get behind a table. </p><p>Nate saw the cellphone. He remembered someone bumping into Vector back at the airport. </p><p>"Guys, I see his phone." Nate said. </p><p>He ran and grabbed it and went back into cover. Meanwhile, Hardison made his way to the electrical panel and got ready to hack into it.</p><p>"Okay, Nate, help is on the way. Got dirty cops in the bar and a Fed in the elevator." Hardison said. </p><p>"Get us out of here!" Sophie exclaimed. </p><p>"We're boxed in!" Nate also exclaimed. </p><p>"I'm working on it. Eliot, you got to go now." Hardison said. </p><p>Kaira looked at Eliot. </p><p>"Get these guys to chase you to the back of the bar, Eliot. Hardison, get ready to cut the lights and elevator." Kaira gave the warning. </p><p>Eliot walked up to the cops. </p><p>"What's up?" He said before bashing the one cop's head in and knocked him down. </p><p>He then stuck his tongue out and ran along with Kaira. Eliot and Kaira ran to the back of the bar. </p><p>"Hardison, dark." Eliot said, looking at Kaira. </p><p>Kaira nodded her head, signaling she was ready as Hardison cut the lights. They used the cover of dark to take out the goons, hiding from the lights. They ran once the dirty cops were taken care of. </p><p>"Okay, Parker, it's time for you to ditch McSweetheart and get to Nate and Sophie. And hurry." Hardison said before pulling the elevator fuse. </p><p>The elevator stopped, and McSweeten tried pushing the 2 button. </p><p>"Can't believe we're gonna be stuck." McSweeten said. </p><p>"I'll go get help. Give me a boost." Parker said, getting ready to climb on McSweeten. </p><p>"Uh, no, I don't think you should--" McSweeten objected. </p><p>"Give me a boost. I'll -- I'll pull you up." Parker said. </p><p>"Okay." McSweeten said before boosting Parker up. </p><p>Parker made it to the top of the elevator. </p><p>"You're really sweet, you know that?" Parker said.</p><p>She left. Hardison was just about to close the fuse box when the dirty cops Eliot bashed came in. Hardison pushed the bat into the cop's gut. Then he hit him on the back as Eliot and Kaira came in. Kaira smiled at Hardison, impressed. </p><p>"Nice." Kaira complimented Hardison. </p><p>"Nate, downstairs is clear." Eliot said. </p><p>They just heard machine-gun fire in the comms.</p><p>"Nathan, please say something, for the love of God!" Kaira all but begged. </p><p>"What the hell's going on up there?!" Eliot exclaimed as they kept hearing the machine gun fire. </p><p>"I'm still dealing with the sniper." Nate said. </p><p>The trio at the fuse box was breathing heavy. Hardison got on his phone, ready to hack something as Eliot and Kaira looked at each other, knowing what to do. </p><p>"We got him!" Eliot growled as he and Kaira ran away. </p><p>"Hey, hey, where you going?" Hardison called out to them. </p><p>"Nate, which building?" Hardison asked Nate. </p><p>"Right across the window from me." Nate said. </p><p>"Eliot and Kaira's always got to do things the hard way." Hardison said as he accessed the sprinkler system by setting off the fire alarm. </p><p>Nate sighed as he realized the gunfire stopped and looked at his watch. </p><p>"Half an hour till the grand jury!" Nate called out to Vector. </p><p>"Forget it! I'm not giving up anything!" Vector yelled. </p><p>At the building, Eliot kicked a door down. Kaira and Eliot saw the sniper wasn't there. </p><p>"Hardison shut the alarm off." Eliot said. </p><p>"Oh, now you want my help?" Hardison said. </p><p>He shut the sprinklers off. Kaira was soaked. Eliot was kind of wet from the sprinklers. </p><p>"Nathan, the shooter's gone. The place is clean. No shells." Kaira said. </p><p>"This guy definitely works for Moreau. That's how he does things." Eliot said as he and Kaira left the room. </p><p>"Vector, I can still get you off the hook!" Sophie said, still in cover. </p><p>"I'm not giving up Moreau!" Vector called out. </p><p>"What?!" Nate questioned Vector.</p><p>"He's gonna kill me! I'll take my chances in jail!" Vector said, leaving. </p><p>Nate and Sophie tried to stop him, but he was already in the elevator by the time they got there. </p><p>"We lost him." Sophie said. </p><p>Parker showed up and walked up to Nate and Sophie. "</p><p>Where were you?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Shaking an FBI tail by crawling through an elevator shaft. What, like this is my fault?" Parker said as everyone was breathing heavily. </p><p>"How do we stop him?" Parker asked.</p><p>"No, no, no, there's no point. I mean, we had him on the hook, he trusted us, and now that's blown, he's never gonna give us anything. Besides, once he gets immunity from the courthouse, that's it. He's never gonna give us the codes to Moreau's accounts." Sophie said. </p><p>"We already have his codes. Guys, how fast can you get to the courthouse?" Nate said. </p><p>Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira were at the dining room of the bar. </p><p>"How fast?" Hardison chuckled, pulling out the keys as Kaira grabbed a towel from behind the bar as Hardison chuckled. </p><p>"We the police." Hardison said. </p><p>"Yeah. I'm driving." Eliot said, grabbing the keys and bolted.</p><p>"What? No." Hardison said, chasing after them. </p><p>"I'll catch up." Kaira said. </p><p>Nate told the team the plan for how they were gonna fix this.</p><p>"You understand the plan?" Nate asked Parker. </p><p>"Yeah. I"ll take care of it on the way." Parker said, leaving. </p><p>Nate turned to Sophie. </p><p>"Make sure the real FBI picks up those dirty cops downstairs. Boston P.D -- they like to take care of their own." Nate said to Sophie, then started to walk away. </p><p>"Where are you going?" Sophie asked Nate. </p><p>"To see the Italian." Nate said. </p><p>He left. Kaira and Sophie called in a tip about the cops while Parker put the prisoner Eliot and Hardison were transporting in the back of McSweetens car. Kaira walked into the courtroom with Parker, standing behind the seating as Parker sat next to McSweeten. Vector looked so confused, as he remembered Parker as the woman he thought was dead and Kaira as the bartender. Vector tried to recover, then started freaking out. He accused McSweeten of not being a real FBI agent as Eliot and Hardison grabbed him by the arms. Vector kept yelling as Eliot and Hardison pinned him back to the railing as Parker walked up to them. </p><p>"Who the hell are you, you bitch!" Vector yelled, pointing to Kaira. </p><p>"I'm just a bartender." Kaira brushed it off. </p><p>Eliot then got in Vectors face. </p><p>"Mr. Moreau would like to speak with you." Eliot said in Vectors ear. </p><p>"You son of a bitch!" Vector said.</p><p>He grabbed Eliot's gun, causing everyone to get down as Eliot tried to grab the gun back. Parker tased him and har the court guards take him away. Parker cracked her neck as Kaira walked over to the trio, not phased at all. </p><p>"I thought you didn't like guns." Hardison said to Eliot. </p><p>Eliot pulled the gun out and pulled the trigger, puffing out air. </p><p>"Air gun." Eliot said, putting the gun back. </p><p>"Seriously?" Hardison questioned Eliot. </p><p>"Whatever happened to that prisoner we were transporting?" Hardison asked Parker and Kaira. </p><p>"Uh, well, you guy said we couldn't just turn him into the local cops, right, cause he'd be a dead guy?" Parker said. </p><p>"Yeah." Eliot said. Parker and Kaira looked at each other. </p><p>"We may have put him in the trunk of McSweetheart's car." Kaira said. </p><p>Eliot just shook his head, not shocked at all as they left. Hardison and Eliot were on each side of Parker, her arms wrapped around their neck and shoulder as Kaira was beside Eliot, her arm around his waist and his arm around her chest. Parker had the taser still in her hand, which was on Eliot's chest. </p><p>"You know, I'm really starting to like tasering people. Is that a problem?" Parker said. </p><p>Eliot used his free hand and grabbed the taser. </p><p>"I should never have bought you that taser, Parker." Kaira groaned as Eliot just shook his head as they left the courthouse. </p><p>They went back to the bar and Hardison cleaned up their covers as Eliot, Kaira, Parker, and Sophie helped to fix all the bullet holes that were now in Nate's apartment.</p><p>Meanwhile, Nate drove to Vector's office. He walked into the office and saw that it had been turned over. Papers were everywhere, pictures were crooked. He sat on the desk. </p><p>"Mr. Ford. I'm glad you made it." The Italian said, walking up to Nate. </p><p>"Aw, please. Come on. You're not even trying." Nate said. </p><p>"What are you talking about?" The Italian asked Nate. </p><p>"You knew Vector had Moreau's secret bank accounts. You knew they were encrypted. You even knew that the key was somewhere here in Vector's office. But a bunch of dirty cops were camped out, waiting to kill him, so you came up with a plan -- have us get the codes from Vector and then send the cops to kill us all." Nate said, revealing he knew her plan. </p><p>"Well, to be fair, I didn't count on the sniper. He was an outside contractor. It's a shame you didn't get his account numbers." The Italian said, not denying what Nate said. </p><p>"Oh, but I did. Yeah. They're right behind you." Nate revealed. </p><p>The Italian turned and saw an old picture of Vector in his red and white uniform. Nate stood up and went behind the Italian. </p><p>"You see, Vector... had a problem. When he gets angry, he sees red." Nate said, walking to the picture. </p><p>"And that turned out to be the key to the code. Now, when photographs are digitized to a computer, every shade of color is assigned a number. If you take two otherwise identical photos, with two different color schemes, compute the difference... you got a code." Nate said. </p><p>He remembered the photo on the home screen of Vector's phone, and he grabbed it during the shooting of the apartment. He pulled the phone out and held it up to the picture that matched the home screen, and took a picture. </p><p>"And there it is." Nate said, turning around. </p><p>He decoded the images, and indeed got Moreau's bank account numbers. </p><p>"And now they're mine." Nate said, walking away. </p><p>"I'm gonna make one withdrawal to get a hockey fan his life savings back... and then I am gonna use these accounts to take down Damien Moreau... on my terms... without you. Our deal is over. And you come after my team, I will come after you. and I assure you, I am more than the man you thought I was." Nate said.</p><p>He left the office and went back to the bar. When Nate went back to the bar, he saw Sophie tapping her fingers on the bar, and pointed to the bartender. </p><p>"Make it two." Sophie said as Nate sat down. </p><p>"That isn't to toast our victory, is it?" Nate said. </p><p>"Making another enemy is hardly something to celebrate." Sophie said. </p><p>"Oh, Moreau tried to kill us." Nate said.</p><p>"No, he tried to kill Vector, and we got in the way. If anyone deserved out wrath, it's the Italian." Sophie said. </p><p>"No, this is much bigger than the Italian." Nate said. </p><p>The bartender put two glasses, one in front of Nate, then another one in front of Sophie. </p><p>"Nate, let's get one thing straight.  As of this moment, we go after Moreau, it's a choice, not a necessity." Sophie said. </p><p>"You're right. But we've never been in this situation before. I mean, we have a chance to take out Damien Moreau before he causes more damage. We didn't choose this fight, but we're in it and we should see it through." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie thought a moment, realizing Nate had a point. Moreau was the ultimate bad guy. And they had a chance to take him down. Sophie raised her glass. </p><p>"To victory, then." Sophie toasted.</p><p> Nate grabbed his glass and toasted. They were gonna go after Damien Moreau. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm super excited to get to write "The Big Bang Job"! But before that, it's "The Ho Ho Ho Job" aka the first Christmas episode! Also the episode I was trying to get to before Christmas of 2020, but I never did, and that grind caused me to get burnout. Anyways, I have a surprise for you all! So, I saw that we have over 6k reads on Wattpad! And there are 90 votes on this series! I am honestly so blown away by that! Before I give you the surprise, here is the chapterly Leverage edit!</p><p>https://youtu.be/qKMVXbcR6NM</p><p>I thought this episode was really appropriate, given the idea of the song and the video.</p><p>And now for the surprise! So, I figured there are some videos out there that are genius and deserve to be shown. So, here it is! (Warning: Mature themes) </p><p>https://youtu.be/ed7C2mHwOQ4</p><p>And the second one! (Also warning: Mature themes) </p><p>https://youtu.be/UpU0MOEzyiQ</p><p>These are some of my favorite Leverage videos out there. </p><p>I hope these made you laugh and enjoyed them as much as I did. I'm super excited that we're getting closer to the end of season 3! Only 3 episodes left of the whole season! I'm honestly so amazed at how amazing this series is doing! Thank you to everyone who has read this story and voted on it! I love you all! Stay safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. The Ho Ho Ho Job (3x14)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's Christmas time for the Leverage team! Before the team can celebrate, however, they to help out Frank, a mall Santa who was unjustly fired by Eben Dooley. When the team runs the con to take Dooley down, they discover that he's teamed up with an old enemy. Pretty soon, Christmas Eve becomes a race against time as they discover a plan to rip off millions of dollars from people just before the holiday season.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I'm super excited to share with you all this wholesome episode! This episode is gonna be a nice change of pace before we get into the action-packed next two episodes! And believe me when I say it's gonna be action-packed! And yes, I know this episode takes place during Christmas, and I planned on releasing this chapter back during Christmas, but I got burned out and didn't, so here it is. Without further adieu, here is chapter 14 of season 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was three days before Christmas and all through McRory's bar, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well, that's a lie. It was bustling at the bar, as the Christmas party that was planned for the night was going on. People were exchanging gifts and drinking, toasting to the holidays. Kaira, wearing her festive long-sleeved shirt and jeans, was helping tend the bar, which she and Parker decorated for the holiday season. The feeling of Christmas was in the air at the bar, and the young Leverage girls loved it. The only thing missing was snow. Which is weird, considering this is Boston they were talking about.</p><p>Parker was standing next to Hardison, flipping through the weather channels, hoping for some indication that snow was coming. Christmas decorations were on the table behind them. Parker was also wearing a Christmas sweater. Hardison finally had enough of Parker flipping the channels, all saying the same thing. That it was gonna be a warm Christmas. </p><p>"Parker." Hardison said, holding his hand for Parker to give him the remote. </p><p>Parker sighed, upset of the no snow information. </p><p>"Just give -- Thank you." Hardison grabbed the remote. </p><p>"Look, the weather forecasts are the same on every single channel -- I'm sorry." Hardison said, flipping through the weather channels. </p><p>Nate was walking down from his bedroom. </p><p>"But it's not Christmas without snow." Parker argued. </p><p>Nate sighed. </p><p>"Parker, you're not gonna get a white Christmas this year." Nate said, walking behind the table, heading towards the door. </p><p>"All we need is for this low-pressure system from Canada to come down and bring us a blast of cold air and precipitation." Parker said. </p><p>Nate grabbed his jacket. </p><p>"Yeah, I'll get right on that. Where are you going?" Hardison said, seeing Nate put on his jacket. </p><p>"Caroling." Nate said, about to go out the door. </p><p>"Oh." Parker perked up. </p><p>"Caroling? You do realize there's a Christmas party in the bar." Hardison said to Nate just as he was about to leave. </p><p>"Oh, son of a..." Nate said, not happy. </p><p>He shut the door behind him as he left. </p><p>"Well?" Parker looked at Hardison. </p><p>"I want flurries. Make it happen." Parker said. </p><p>She grabbed her red antler headband and left. Hardison just sighed. </p><p>Down in the bar, it was packed. People were decked out in Christmas gear and being merry. Except for Nate. He was like the Grinch, all grouchy. Kaira caught a bartender filling his glass up with eggnog. Nate told him when to stop filling it up, then grabbed the rum bottle and filled up his glass. Kaira just glared at him as he picked up his glass. </p><p>"Bah, humbug." Nate said. </p><p>He took a drink, seeing Kaira looking at him. Just then, Parker came over. </p><p>"Nate! There's a client here to see you." Parker quietly told Nate. </p><p>"We're closed. It's the holidays." Nate told Parker. </p><p>"No, I really think we should talk to this one." Parker said. </p><p>"It's Santa." Parker whispered to Nate. </p><p>Kaira walked over. </p><p>Parker gestured for them to turn around and saw there was a man over at one of the nearby booths, a coffee cup in hand that Kaira remembered giving him. He was dressed like a mall Santa. He smiled at the trio as Nate and Parker turned around. Parker smiled. </p><p>"Ah, don't you think?" Parker said, sharply turning her head, whacking Nate in the head with the antlers. </p><p>Nate cleared his throat.</p><p>"Really?" Nate looked at Parker. </p><p>"Nate, don't be a Scrooge on Christmas." Kaira warned Nate, saying she was gonna do this job regardless. </p><p>They ended up sitting at the booth, Parker sitting next to Frank, a mall Santa, and their client. They grabbed a laptop and Frank showed them footage from two days ago of the mall owner, Eben Dooley Jr., getting Frank thrown out of the mall, faking him being drunk with a bottle of booze, embarrassing him in front of children and parents. Parker shut the laptop. </p><p>"He lied. I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in years. You can ask my wife." Frank explained. </p><p>"This guy Dooley, the -- the mall owner -- why would he want to frame you?" Nate asked Frank. </p><p>"Over the past month, he's fired all the old Santas, guys who've worked the mall for years. And the replacements? They don't look like Santas, Mr. Ford. They look like criminals. I walked in on them meeting with Dooley, and they all clammed up. They're up to something." Frank explained. </p><p>Nate just shrugged and took a sip of his eggnog. </p><p>"Hey, I told Dooley, I'm the Senior Santa. I run the Toys for Tykes drive every Christmas Eve. If he fired me without cause, I'd sue. So he framed me to get me out of the way." Frank continued explaining. </p><p>Parker sighed, feeling bad for the guy. And Kaira was too. </p><p>"Poor Santa." Parker said, patting Franks back. </p><p>"Well, this is not just some part-time job I've lost. I make appearances as Santa all year 'round. It's who I am. But who'd let their kids near me now, huh? I just want my reputation back. I want to be Santa again." Frank said, his request simple. </p><p>Nate put his hand up. </p><p>"Uh... okay. Uh, thank you, Frank. Uh, we're gonna... talk it over." Nate said. </p><p>"Okay, thanks." Frank said, grateful. </p><p>Kaira smiled. </p><p>"Don't worry, we'll help you." Kaira assured Frank. </p><p>He grabbed a red and white candy cane and handed it to Nate. </p><p>"Uh, no, no, no. Thank you." Nate declined. </p><p>Frank sat the candy cane on the table. </p><p>"The Christmas spirit has a way of sneaking up on you, you know." Frank said. </p><p>He looked at Parker and Kaira grabbed the candy cane, smiling as she watched Frank leave. Parker sat down at the booth. She smiled as she sat down. </p><p>"What? Parker, now, this -- this is too thin. Besides, we were all gonna take a break from each other and not spend the holidays together -- come on." Nate said. </p><p>"Okay. Bad enough it's Christmas and there's no snow on the ground, but this is Santa we're talking about, okay? We can't turn away Santa!" Parker argued. </p><p>"Nate, come on. What's it gonna hurt if we do one more job before Christmas?" Kaira whined. </p><p>Nate looked at both women, then at Parker. "You know that's not really Santa, right?" Nate questioned Parker. </p><p>"Obviously. Santa lives at the North Pole." Parker said. </p><p>She put back on her headband and left, leaving Kaira and Nate at the booth. Kaira chuckled slightly at Parker. Nate agreed to the job. </p><p>The next morning, the team was at the Regency Square Mall. Hardison got himself and Kaira as photographers, getting pictures of the eyes of the Santas for identification. Hardison took a picture of the eyes, and Kaira had a second camera, acting as a second photographer, playing her role off as just a precaution. Hardison acted as the main photographer though. He was about to take a picture when he looked at both his and Kaira's camera. He looked at the family he was getting pictures with. </p><p>"Okay, uh, pop... a little more smile." Hardison said. </p><p>The dad in the back smiled some and Hardison looked through the camera. </p><p>"No. Kill it. Too much smile." Hardison said. </p><p>"All right. Mom? You're great. One second." Hardison scotched over the kids on Santa's lap, leaving his face open for the picture. </p><p>"Kris Kringle, open the eyes, man. Come on, it's Christmas. You're scaring the kids." Hardison said, going back to the camera. </p><p>"On three. 28... 19... 3!" Hardison held up three fingers as him and Kaira took pictures. </p><p>Kaira smiled at the family. </p><p>"All right, looking amazing! Who's next?" Kaira said. </p><p> </p><p>Nate and Sophie were looking through a vendor of expensive jewelry. </p><p> </p><p>"Oh. It's quite fun being able to shop on the job. Ooh, that's quite nice." Sophie said, looking at a silver chained necklace with a silver wide silver plate with loops on the end that had the name "Ellen" engraved on it. </p><p>"Is that what you want? If I'm gonna get that engraved for you, I'll need to know your real name." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie looked at Nate. </p><p>"You know what's also quite nice? A gift certificate." Sophie said, not revealing her real name. </p><p>"Oh. Sure. Yeah." Nate said. </p><p>"That's nice too." Sophie said over Nate. </p><p>Nate saw Dooley walking towards them. </p><p>"Okay, looks like I'm up." Nate said. </p><p>"Lots of energy, love. Every jobs important." Sophie said. </p><p>Nate got himself ready and left, leaving Sophie to continue shopping. Nate walked up to Dooley. </p><p>"Mr. Dooley. Hi. Anton Underhill. Retail consul --" Nate said, handing Dooley a card. </p><p>"I really don't have time for this." Dooley dismissed Nate. </p><p>"Well, time is money..." Nate said, putting his card away. </p><p>"Hmm." Dooley hummed. </p><p>"And that's what I'm offering you." Nate told Dooley. </p><p>"Parker, Eliot, be quick." Sophie qued up Eliot and Parker. </p><p>Eliot walked by the secretary, pushing a cart load of wrapped gifts, acting as a mailman. Parker was hidden underneath. He stopping in front of the reception desk and the lovely receptionist was on the phone and hung up. </p><p>"Feliz Navidad." Eliot said, chuckling. </p><p>Eliot grabbed the clipboard. </p><p>"All these for Mr. Dooley?" The receptionist asked Eliot. </p><p>Eliot looked at the forms. </p><p>"They are if his name is... Ashley." Eliot said. </p><p>"That's my name!" The receptionist exclaimed. </p><p>"No kidding?" Eliot said. </p><p>Ashley chuckled. </p><p>"Yeah. I swear." Ashley said. </p><p>Eliot proceeded to flirt with the receptionist, giving her packages. Parker sneaked out of the cart and made her way into Dooley's office. In the office, there was a dead yellow plant on the desk as well as a computer. </p><p>"Sad." Parker said. </p><p>She put some tinsel on the plant. </p><p>"Happy." Parker said. </p><p>She sat down in the chair and plugged in the drive. Parker typed on the keyboard and code popped up. She grabbed the magic 8 ball that was also on the desk and shook it. When she leaned back, she heard bottle clanking. Parker didn't like the answer she got on the magic 8 ball and put it back as she felt for the bottle. Parker grabbed a bottle of scotch and recognized it from the video. </p><p>"Dooley framed Santa with his own scotch." Parker said. </p><p>Nate was still talking to Dooley, walking by the food court and the carousel. </p><p>"It's a wonder there's any shoppers at all. You got obstructed sightlines, the signage is at the wrong height, and you've got, uh, you know, you've got the bad element, you know, chasing out the good." Nate said, seeing rowdy kids. </p><p>"What can I do? Twin Pines took all my customers." Dooley said. </p><p>Nate stopped him. "Okay, well, what if I were to tell you that my methods would get more shoppers to open up their wallets, huh? Hmm? Not too late to make a killing on Christmas Eve." Nate tried to sell the pitch. </p><p>"You know what? I'm really not interested, okay?" Dooley said, grabbing pills. </p><p>"But why don't you check out the sales at Talarico? Denim jackets are half off." Dooley said, taking a pill and walking away. </p><p>"Think about it." Nate said. </p><p>They went back to the office later that day and Hardison got his briefing ready as Parker and Kaira decorated the office, putting silver garling on the clear boards, and putting up the tree and decorating it with loot Parker had. Finally, Sophie, Eliot, and Kaira had sat at the table, Nate was eating at the dining table and reading the newspaper, and Parker wasn't seen, and Hardison got his briefing ready. </p><p>"Eben Dooley Jr. inherited the Regency Square Mall three years ago after his father passed and had since nearly run it to the ground. According to his computer files, he --" Hardison said as Jingle Bells played from the speaker Parker was holding as she skipped in, wearing a white halo and red sweater.</p><p>"Turn that off!" Nate yelled at Parker. </p><p>She didn't listen and skipped to the other side of the table. </p><p>"Parker!" Nate warned again. </p><p>Kaira just chuckled at Parker. She turned the music off. The team looked at her with varying expressions. </p><p>"What?" Parker questioned. </p><p>"As I was saying, according to his computer files, he's been inflating income. And the reality is the mall is on the verge of bankruptcy." Hardison said. </p><p>Parker grabbed a silver necklace that was expensive looking. </p><p>"Well, that would explain the anti-anxiety meds." Eliot said. </p><p>"Oh, I'd pop pills, too, if I had his gambling debts." Hardison explained. </p><p>Parker put the necklace upon the tree. </p><p>"Parker, is that the Lion of Gilgamesh?" Sophie asked Parker. </p><p>Kaira didn't realize how much loot was on the tree. </p><p>"Mm-mhh." Parker hummed, confirming what Sophie said. </p><p>"Stole it in Dubai in '05. Think it looks nice next to the Star Sapphire I took from the Prado." Parker said. </p><p>Hardison walked to the end of the table by Eliot and Kaira. </p><p>"Okay, careful! You've got like millions of dollars worth of loot on that tree." Sophie said. </p><p>Parker looked back and smiled. </p><p>"Parker, I said we would buy ornaments. Like bulbs." Kaira said. </p><p>Kaira then looked at the tree again. </p><p>"Actually, I like it." Kaira smiled. </p><p>Parker smiled at the tree. </p><p>"Happy birthday, Jesus." Parker said. </p><p>Eliot closed his eyes, annoyed at Parker. Hardison brought them back in line. </p><p>"Hey, guys, check this out. Eben's on a flight on Christmas Eve to San Lorenzo. And those Santas? Ex-cons." Hardison pulled up their faces on the screen. </p><p>Parker walked back over to the table and sat next to Eliot and Sophie. </p><p>"See, the facial recognition  -- it focuses on the eyes." Hardison said as Parker pulled out a gingerbread house and sat it on the table. </p><p>"Thought they could fool me with those fake beards. Sad." Hardison said as Parker slid the gingerbread house in front of Eliot, causing Kaira to smile and Eliot to stare at it. </p><p>"Are you kidding me?" Eliot asked Parker, who was pleased with herself. </p><p>"Yeah. Yeah, it's an insurance scam. He's desperate for money, so he fires the old Santas, he hires these goons to rob the mall, and by fleeing to San Lorenzo, he's got an alibi." Nate explained as Eliot pushed the gingerbread house towards Parker. </p><p>The team looked at Nate. </p><p>"If we can take Dooley down, we can prove he framed Santa." Parker said. </p><p>"Yeah, Sophie, don't let Dooley get on that plane. And we're gonna need somebody inside the mall." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison typed on his laptop. </p><p>"I'm already on it. Hacking into the mall's employee database as we speak." Hardison said. </p><p>Parker pushed the gingerbread house back towards Eliot. Eliot then pushed it back. </p><p>"Stop it." Parker whispered, sliding it back towards Eliot. </p><p>"Stop playing hot potato with the gingerbread house." Kaira said, having enough. </p><p>Hardison spent the rest of the day getting aliases created and Kaira and Parker finished decorating. Kaira even decorated her and Eliot's apartment, much to Eliot's displeasure, but he thought it was cute how excited Kaira got about Christmas. </p><p>The next day, they arrived at the mall. Eliot was the ex-con Santa, also to his displeasure, Hardison and Nate were in the parking garage, looking at Dooley's car from Lucille, Parker was an elf, Kaira a photographer, Sophie was the driver. Kaira took a picture of Eliot who had a crying little girl on his lap. </p><p>"Hey, Eliot. You in the spirit yet?" Nate came over comms. </p><p>Kaira felt bad but was also enjoying herself a bit. </p><p>"Ho ho ho." Eliot said, not pleased at all. </p><p>Most of the morning passed, with Eliot trying his best not to throw children. And Kaira did feel bad that Eliot had to go through this. Eliot was talking with a little boy about what he wanted for Christmas. The boy said that Eliot wasn't the real Santa, and touched the beard, which Eliot told him off for. He also said that Eliot smelled like his stepdad after he played basketball. He also pointed out the location of the "North Pole", saying it usually is by the pretzel stand. Eliot told the kid off about frosting and got him off his lap. The kid asked Eliot for a Rubber Robby doll. Eliot tried to get him off his lap when Parker walked over and held the boy, holding a candy cane. </p><p>"Don't worry! Santa just hasn't had his morning nog yet!" Parker said, putting on a kid's voice and handed the kid a candy cane. </p><p>The kid got off and left as Kaira reset the camera. </p><p>"You're Santa! Respect the suit!" Parker whispered to Eliot, telling him off for being grouchy. </p><p>"Parker, this beard is itchy! All right? And somebody peed on my lap earlier! And everybody wants a... Rub Me Robby." Eliot said quietly. </p><p>Kaira tried not to break. </p><p>"Babe, it's a Rubbery Robby. It's the latest toy craze." Kaira whispered. </p><p>Another kid came up. </p><p>"This is the worst job ever." Eliot said. </p><p>"This is the best job ever." Parker and Kaira said at the same time with Eliot. </p><p>"Oh, this is easily one of my favorite missions." Hardison said, taking a drink of his orange soda. </p><p>"Nate, I don't understand why you couldn't play Santa." Eliot said quietly as the kid on his lap had a candy cane. </p><p>"Well, you know, Dooley's seen me, first of all, and secondly, you just fit in better with the other Santas." Nate said. </p><p>"Really? You're the ex-con." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>Kaira tried once again to not break. </p><p>"Yeah, but you're just so... jolly." Nate said. </p><p>"Jolly." Hardison laughed a bit. </p><p>"Hardison, I'm gonna..." Eliot said when Kaira cut him off. </p><p>"Eliot, kids. Remember?" Kaira quietly warned him. </p><p>"I got a lump of coal with your name on it!" Eliot quietly exclaimed, upset. </p><p>"Okay, Sophie, have you made contact with Dooley yet?" Nate asked Sophie. </p><p>"On our way to the car now." Sophie said, walking with Dooley. </p><p>Dooley popped another pill. </p><p>"Wow. This guy's right on the edge. I could really do a number on him." Sophie said. </p><p>Eliot got the kid off his lap. </p><p>"All right, just make sure he doesn't get on that plane. And, listen, if you can spook him into calling an audibe, go to town." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison and Nate saw on the surveillance cameras the actual car arriving and pulling up next to the van and "Deck the Halls" was playing. </p><p>"Hardison, here-- here's the real driver." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison grabbed his EMP cannon and got it set up. "See the blazing yule before us fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la"</p><p> Hardison sang as he opened the door. </p><p>"Zap the car with E-M-P fa-la-la-la -- boom." Hardison zapped the car with the EMP cannon and the music stopped and stopped everything in the car, locking the driver in. Hardison laughed as he shut the van door. </p><p>Hardison put the cannon on the computer table. Sophie nodded to the driver as she escorted Dooley in the car and left. As they were driving to the airport, Sophie started some conversation about making sure that everything for the holidays was ready, getting Dooley to call the person he had made the plan with. </p><p>"Are you tracking this?" Sophie said quietly in the comm. </p><p>"No, the signal's encrypted. For a bunch of Santas, they have some damn good tech." Hardison said. </p><p>Soon, Eliot and Kaira went back to the break room where all the Santas were talking. None of them on a phone. </p><p>"Hey, these guys aren't talking on their phones." Eliot said. </p><p>Kaira was behind him, covered by the door. </p><p>"He's gotta be talking to a third party." Kaira said quietly. </p><p>Back in the car, Dooley was still freaking out on the phone. He asked Sophie to hurry. She tightened her seatbelt and told him he was the boss and unbuckled Dooley. She crashed the car, knocking Dooley out and deploying the airbag. Sophie got her hair out of her face and cracked her neck. </p><p>"Flight's delayed." Sophie said. </p><p>Eliot walked into the break room as Kaira waited outside. The bad Santas all looked at Eliot as he grabbed some coffee. He managed to get a tiny bit of info from the goons, planting him with a bell at the front of the mall. So, Kaira was near where Eliot was as he was ringing a bell next to a kettle that had a card reader. Hardison and Nate could see him on the surveillance cameras. Eliot wasn't exactly selling the part. </p><p>"Boy, Eliot, come on. You're not gonna get any donations like that. Put some heart into it." Nate said. </p><p>"I don't understand why I can't just take these guys out. All right? I took out a Uruguayan death squad with nothing but piano wire and a--" Eliot realized the nosy boy from earlier was listening. </p><p>"What?" Eliot asked the kid. </p><p>Kaira walked up to the kid, as she was dressed like an elf. </p><p>"Sorry, sweetie. Santas just cranky because he's under a lot of stress." Kaira said. </p><p>The boy looked at Eliot. </p><p>"You got any money? Get the hell on!" Eliot said, motioning with the bell. </p><p>The boy left and Kaira showed her displeasure. </p><p>"If you weren't dressed as Santa, and we weren't in public, Eliot, I would smack you." Kaira told Eliot off. </p><p>"Be nicer." Kaira scolded Eliot. </p><p>"Listen, there will be plenty of clobbering time once the job begins. We just have a couple of hours before the mall closes, so relax -- I'll bring you a pretzel." Nate said. </p><p>Meanwhile, Sophie was at the hospital, fanning herself off, sitting next to Dooley, who was out from the accident. He came to. </p><p>"I... I have to catch my flight." Dooley said, still woozy. </p><p>"Oh, you're not going anywhere, I'm afraid, not in your condition." Sophie said. </p><p>"No, you don't understand. I have to get out of town." Dooley tried to get up, but Sophie stopped him and told him to calm down. </p><p>"Do you know how lucky you are? The universe must have a plan for you." Sophie said, buttering Dooley up. </p><p>"No, not me. I am beyond saving." Dooley said, still high from the morphine. </p><p>"No one's beyond saving, Mr. Dooley. Not at Christmas time." Sophie said. </p><p>Dooley picked up his morphine remote and clicked it a few times, groaning and sighing. </p><p>"More morphine. Back at the mall, Eliot was playing with the bell as Nate and Hardison walked up to him. Kaira was standing next to Eliot. </p><p>"Santa?" Nate walked up to Eliot. </p><p>"Why don't you help out the needy, man? I got a quota to fill here." Eliot said. </p><p>"Yeah. Ho ho ho." Nate said. </p><p>A young woman swiped her card on the kettle and typed in her pin and walked in between Eliot and Nate. Eliot and Kaira smiled at her and wished her Merry Christmas. </p><p>"They got credit cards for those things?" Nate asked Eliot. </p><p>"I don't know, man. I guess it's more convenient these days." Eliot said. </p><p>Hardison pulled out his phone and laughed. </p><p>"I got to get a picture of this." Hardison said, getting his phone up. </p><p>"Damn the jokes, man. I will knock oyu out with this bell, man." Eliot warned, holding the bell. </p><p>"Hey, man, come on." Hardison said. </p><p>"I'm serious." Eliot said. </p><p>Kaira saw the look Hardison had and got out her phone. It read that there was an RFID signal coming from nearby. Hardison and Kaira looked around. </p><p>"Hey. Hey, man, this thing's got an RFID antenna." Hardison told Eliot and Nate quietly. </p><p>"Radio frequency I.D? Maybe to prevent shoplifting." Nate said. </p><p>He grabbed a purse from the stand behind Eliot and walked up to the archway with a wreath on it and nothing happened. </p><p>"Or not." Nate said. </p><p>He tossed the purse to Eliot, who had Kaira put it away. </p><p>"Guys, those are at every exit. Do you think they're connected to the robbery?" Parker questioned. </p><p>The group all saw that indeed, the kettles were everywhere and people were swiping cards left and right. </p><p>"Not a physical robbery. It's virtual." Nate said. </p><p>"So you're saying this thing's bigger than we thought." Eliot said. </p><p>Parker walked over. </p><p>"Guys, this whole mall is an identity sponge. Between the kettle and the RFID readers, Dooley's collecting thousands of credit and debit numbers through the holiday season." Nate explained. </p><p>"And because everybody's buying last-minute gifts for Christmas, none of the credit companies can keep up with all the backlog." Kaira realized, knowing they really kicked the hornet's nest. </p><p>"Sure." Nate confirmed. </p><p>"So fraudulent charges aren't gonna flag." Parker poitned out. </p><p>"Yeah, but credit card holders are only liable for, what, 50 bucks a fraud?" Eliot questioned. </p><p>"Well, per incident." Nate corrected. </p><p>"Yeah, if there's hundreds of incidents and hundreds of transactions on every card." Parker said. </p><p>"When the store closes tonight, Dooley and his team are gonna rip off millions of dollars, and no one will even notice. He's stealing Christmas." Nate said. </p><p>He motioned for Eliot to leave and he did. Meanwhile, Sophie heard the revelation from the hospital. </p><p>"Credit card fraud?" Sophie questioned. </p><p>"Sophie, find out how Dooley's pulling the trigger. He's got to be working with a hacker." Nate said as the team at the mall spread out some to look for anyone suspicious. </p><p>"He's right on the edge. I think I can turn him. Get him to call the whole thing off." Sophie said. </p><p>"Well, hurry up. We might be too lre already." Nate said as Hardison was scanning the archway. </p><p>Sophie made a phone call and then had control of the morphine remote as Frank arrived at the hospital in full Santa outfit and a red sack of toys. </p><p>"Santa?" Dooley questioned, still high from the morphine. </p><p>"If it isn't Ebenezer Dooley." Frank said. </p><p>He laughed like Santa. </p><p>"Taken a little tumble, have we?" Frank asked Dooley. </p><p>"What are you doing here?" Dooley asked Frank. </p><p>"Children in hospitals need toys, too." Sophie said. </p><p>Frank started digging in his toy sack. </p><p>"You look like you could use a..." Frank pulled out a toy. </p><p>"Rubbery Robby doll." Frank said, setting the toy on the bed. </p><p>"I fired you. Why would you be kind to me?" Dooley asked Frank.</p><p>"Oh, Santa doesn't hold grudges. But there is something I want to talk to you about. Credit card fraud, Eben? On Christmas eve?" Frank said. </p><p>Sophie clicked her tongue. </p><p>"What? What are y-- How do you know?" Dooley asked Frank. </p><p>"Santa knows everything. He's got a list." Frank said. </p><p>"Okay, what are you? What -- are you the real Santa?" Dooley asked.</p><p>Frank chuckled and Sophie gave Dooley more morphine. </p><p>"You know? You know what I did?" Dooley asked Frank. </p><p>"Ho ho ho." Frank said, confirming what Dooley thought. </p><p>"I want... I want to be nice, Santa. I don't want to be naughty." Dooley said, still high. </p><p>"Well, then you know what you have to do!" Frank told Dooley. </p><p>Sophie stood up. </p><p>"Call off your hacker, and Santa will pretend this never happened." Sophie said.</p><p>She grabbed the phone and handed it to Dooley. Dooley grabbed the phone and it rung. </p><p>"That's him now." Dooley said, still groggy. </p><p>He answered the phone. </p><p>"Yeah. Hey. Hi. Yeah, I want you to stop. Turn it off. I don't want to go through... mm? I don't..." Dooley sighed and removed the phone from his ear. </p><p>"He wants to talk to Sophie Devereaux." Dooley said. </p><p>The team perked up as Sophie grabbed the phone. She put it up to her ear and sighed. </p><p>"Who is this?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"Hello, Sophie. It's the Grinch who stole Christmas." A male voice came on the line. "Chaos?" Sophie realized. </p><p>"Long time, no try to kill you." Chaos said.</p><p>Kaira flashed back to the last time they saw Chaos, which was when he sent a bomb Kaira's ex-boyfriend made in a vase of flowers and nearly killed Sophie, having to fake her death to save her. That was a year ago. God has things changed since then. </p><p>"I take it that, via your comms, I'm talking to the entire Justice League?" Chaos said. </p><p>"Well, Eliot won't be the only one doing some clobbering today." Kaira growled. </p><p>"Hello, Chaos. I thought we left you rotting in a federal prison." Nate said. </p><p>"Oh, come on. Those things are made to be broken out of. You of all people know that. Especially one that runs its security off an unencrypted operating system. Am I right, Hardison? Oh, and uh, Parker? You look yummy in that elf costume." Chaos said. </p><p>Kaira groaned more, realizing they were being watched and looking at the camera. </p><p>"Kaira, you not so much. I mean, you look good, but you're not my type." Chaos added. </p><p>"You sick son of a bitch. What, did me revealing your master plan turn you off? I mean, it's your fault you used my ex to make the bombs and tried to kill my friend." Kaira growled, catching that the kettle were now off the chains. </p><p>"Hey. The Santas." Hardison said. </p><p>"Come on." Nate said, leaving. </p><p>Kaira and Hardison followed him. Eliot made it to the break room, seeing the room cleaned up. </p><p>"They're gone." Eliot reported. </p><p>He saw a coffee cup on the table and grabbed it, feeling it was still warm. </p><p>"Hey, guys. Their cocoa's still warm. They can't be far... Y'all. Damn it, Hardison." Chaos imitated Eliot. </p><p>Eliot left, realizing he was also being watched. </p><p>"Don't bother trying to chase us. All the piees are in place for my credit-card catastrophe. And there is nothing that you or that waste of painkillers, Eben Dooley, can do about it. Oh, and, Hardison? This is a nice gun. Maybe if I'm a good boy, Santa will bring me one." Chaos said. </p><p>Kaira, Nate, and Hardison knew he was by Lucille. </p><p>"Son of a bitch! I am going to kick your ass, Chaos, if you touch the van." Kaira growled as the trio ran. </p><p>They made it out to the parking garage and saw Chaos fired the EMP cannon at the van. </p><p>"Oh, Lucille Two!" Hardison exclaimed, seeing Lucille in flames and Chaos in the getaway van. </p><p>"Ho ho ho!" Chaos yelled as he left. </p><p>"I'm gonna whup your ass, Chaos!" Kaira yelled, ready to chase after the van, but Nate stopped her, giving Chaos the finger before he went out of view. </p><p>"Come on, man!" Hardison yelled. </p><p>"What, he set the EMP on toast?" Nate asked Hardison. </p><p>"He killed her, Nate. I hate him. I hate him." Hardison said. </p><p>"I'll kick his ass for you, big brother, don't worry." Kaira said. </p><p>"She was a good van. We'll get you another." Nate said. </p><p>They left. Eliot went by the kettle and was breaking the archway, pulling the red berries off. They all met in the main part of the mall. </p><p>"How's he gonna pull this off?" Nate asked, joining up with the others. </p><p>"Okay, look, his network is piggybacking off the city's trunk line. It's the internet backbone. Eliot, you can rip all you want, man, but you're not shutting down Chaos from here." Hardison said. </p><p>He looked at his phone and saw that the credit card numbers were being translated. </p><p>"What?" Parker asked him. </p><p>"He just pulled the trigger." Hardison reported, revealing the plan was in motion. </p><p>"Then every second that we delay, innocent people are getting scammed. So the only way to turn Chaos off... is to turn off the trunk line." Hardison said. </p><p>"Where is it?" Kaira asked, knowing they couldn't delay. </p><p>"Which is housed at... The Yakamoto building." Hardison explained. </p><p>"Hardison, that's a major operation on a military-grade facility. I can call my sources, man. I need a week of planning, new equipment..." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"All right, Sophie, meet us at the Yakamoto building downtown. We're gonna pull an Edward Albee." Nate said.</p><p>They left the mall. It was way into the night by this point. Sophie changed out of her driver outfit. Nate crashed and walked into the building, slurring his speech with Sophie at his side, keeping the door unlocked as they arguing with each other about Nate supposedly cheating on her with her sister. Hardison and Parker were holding on to each other as they repelled down the elevator shaft. </p><p>"Fifth floor!" Parker said in a weird voice and started chuckling as her and Hardison started undoing the harness. </p><p>"You know what? That was not on my bucket list, okay?" Hardison told Parker. </p><p>"Oh, come on! Do you know how many chimneys Santa has to go down tonight? You only had to go down one." Parker said, getting the harnesses off. </p><p>Sophie got herself pushed against the wall to calm down and lifted the card off the guard as he still argued with Sophie about her sister. Eliot and Kaira sneaked by and Eliot grabbed the card from Nate. They ran up the steps to get to the right floor. Hardison and Parker stepped out of the elevator. Hardison was breathing heavy as he got his phone out. </p><p>"You know what? When this is over, we gonna have us a long talk." Hardison warned Parker. </p><p>He got the location of the server room on his phone.</p><p>"Okay, server room is that way." Hardison said, going left. Eliot and Kaira walked into an office and Eliot started choking the guy. </p><p>"Merry Christmas, bud. Merry Christmas. Mery Christmas!" Eliot said, finally choking the guy out. </p><p>Nate and Sophie exited, saying I love yous and sapping up each other. Hardison and Parker made it to the server room. Kaira held open the guards eye and Eliot scanned it, opening the security station. Kaira laid the guards head on the table with a thud, causing her to wince. </p><p>"Sorry, dude." Kaira said. </p><p>"Get some overtime." Eliot said, throwing a candy cane on the table. </p><p>He got on the computer and opened up the truck line control room for Hardison and Parker. </p><p>"The server room alarm is off." Kaira reported. </p><p>Hardison and Parker saw that the lock disengaged and Hardison opened the door and they walked in. Hardison looked at his phone, trying to find the trunk line for they needed. Parker went to touch a server. </p><p>"Don't touch anything." Hardison warned Parker. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira left the office. Hardison and Parker found the server. </p><p>"Nate, man, this is like trying to plug a fire hose with a pebble." Hardison said. </p><p>"Hardison, are you saying you can't do it?" Nate asked. </p><p>Sophie was leaning on Nate. </p><p>"When have I ever said that... ever?" Hardison asked. </p><p>He got out his laptop and opened it. He uploaded the worm. </p><p>"He's in." Parker reported. </p><p>Hardison was silent as he did his thing. </p><p>"You're in, right?" Parker asked Hardison. </p><p>"Yeah. Just have to find the sector with the mall so we don't shut down the whole city." Hardison said.</p><p>He found it. </p><p>"All right, Chaos, this is for Lucille two." Hardison said. </p><p>He turned the data offline. </p><p>"Oh, you can keep knocking, but you ain't coming in." Hardison said, proud on himself. </p><p>"Yeah, okay. We should probably -- shall we?" Parker said, indicating they needed to leave. </p><p>"Yeah. Ciao." Haridson said, loading up his laptop.</p><p>They left nad met back upa t the office. Hardiosn showed that a bunch of law enforcement were heading to the building on the screen. </p><p>"Well, people, not bad, huh? For like -- what was it? -- 8 minutes of planning?" Sophie said as Eliot handed everyone beers, minus Nate, who was looking at the screen. </p><p>"I feel bad I had to take out the guard, though." Eliot said. </p><p>"You didn't kill him. And you left him a candy cane." Kaira smiled, glass the job was done as Hardison walked over to Nate with two beers. </p><p>"That's all right. I-I feel like caroling. Is it too late for caroling?" Parker said. </p><p>Kaira smiled. </p><p>"Of course not." Sophie said. </p><p>"It's still Christmas Eve, Parker." Kaira said. </p><p>Hardison offered Nate a beer. </p><p>"Hey, man. What's the matter? Come on, we did just take down one of the most secure facilities in town. Boom -- don't leave me hangin'." Hardison said, putting the beer down holding out his fist for a fistbump. </p><p>"Every law-enforcement agency is descending on Yakamoto right now." Nate said. </p><p>"Come on." Haridson said, still holding his fist. </p><p>"Why would the treasury be sending a car? I mean, why would they be interested in some neighborhood losing their internet access?" Nate asked, causing the group at the table to look at him. </p><p>"I-I don't know. Uh, trunk lines can't be hacked. The government could use them for a security application, theoretically." Hardison said. </p><p>"Yeah. Call up the mall." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison pulled up the mall on the map, and it was right next to the Federal Bank Depository. Everyone was now gathered at the screen. </p><p>"Now, when you shut off the lines to the mall, you also shut off the depository. Yeah. That's it right there. Okay, guys... we just got played." Nate said. </p><p>An alarm on the screen started blaring. This was not good. </p><p>"Son of a bitch." Kaira muttered. </p><p>They all sat at the dining table to get something together. </p><p>"How do you not think to ask your sources what else was on that trunk line?" Hardison asked Eliot, upset they got played. </p><p>"How come you didn't figure out Chaos was after the bank, man? I thought all you dorks thought alike!" Eliot exclaimed, also upset. </p><p>"I did my job, man!" Hardison argued. </p><p>"You want to see me do mine?" Eliot asked Hardison. </p><p>"Knock it off, both of you." Kaira scolded them both. </p><p>"Your job is to deliver magic and joy to little boys and girls." Parker said to Eliot. </p><p>Kaira glared at Parker. </p><p>"Not the time, Parker." Kaira growled. </p><p>"Wow, I thought Christmas at Aunt Emily's was humiliating." Sophie said, scratching her head.</p><p>"All I'm -- you got to check every -- every avenue!" Eliot argued with Hardison. </p><p>"I did check every avenue!" Hardison argued. </p><p>"Enough!" Nate yelled, getting the boys to shut up. </p><p>"We all did our jobs! Everyone except me." Nate said. </p><p>The team looked at him. </p><p>"Now, Chaos, he manipulated us because we're the best. Now, my job is to see two steps ahead. I-I should have realized that this credit-card scam was a setup -- I didn't." Nate sighed. </p><p>"I-I-I didn't take this job seriously. I-I don't know. I just, um, I led us right into Chaos' trap." Nate said, upset at himself. </p><p>The team gathered around the briefing table as Nate threw some things from a case on the table, upset. </p><p>"We were all thrown." Sophie said. </p><p>Nate sighed. </p><p>"Yes, but it's my job not to be. I'm sorry." Nate said. </p><p>"You're what?" Sophie questioned. </p><p>Nate walked behind Parker. </p><p>"Christmas eve is a magical night." Parker said. </p><p>"Well, you just ruined it." Eliot said. </p><p>Nate walked back to the end of the table. </p><p>"Look, Nathan, we can stand around here and play the blame game all  night, but I'm tired and pissed, so I say we make a plan and kick a little Chaos ass." Kaira said, rallying the team, showing Nate her forgiveness. </p><p>Nate looked at Kaira and thought of something. </p><p>"The plan is... to figure out the plan in the car." Nate said. </p><p>The team left behind him. They got in the car and made a plan. </p><p>They arrived at the mall and Parker looked through binoculars at the depository. </p><p>"Any visual on Chaos?" Nate asked Parker. </p><p>"No sign of visible entry. No roof access. They must have gone in underneath." Parker said, lowering the binoculars. </p><p>"No. Tunneling's too risky. It would have taken months." Hardison pointed out. </p><p>"Unless the tunnel was already there." Nate said. </p><p>He looked at the team. </p><p>"Back in the '60s, Pedestrian tunnels were sort of the wave of the future. The mob made a fortune on the contracts until the state shut them down." Nate said. </p><p>"Yeah, my grandpa used to tell me stories of the tunnels underneath Boston." Kaira said, realizing the way in. </p><p>"And you got this from your days in insurance." Sophie said to Nate. </p><p>"Oh, no, my dad's pals, they used to joke about going to live in the tunnels when their wives kicked them out." Nate explained. </p><p>"So how do we get in?" Parker asked. </p><p>Kaira could tell Eliot was thinking, and caught on, remembering the little boy asking about why the North Pole was moved when it usually was near the pretzel stand. </p><p>"The North Pole." Eliot said. </p><p>"What?" Sophie asked Eliot. </p><p>"The entrance in under the North Pole. Let's go." Eliot said, walking away. </p><p>The team followed. The team met up with a still high but happy Dooley and Frank, leading a hoard of kids in the mall. </p><p>"Dooley?" Sophie said. </p><p>"Hey, driver lady! And... pushy consultant guy! You're just in time." Dooley said. </p><p>Frank noticed Eliot's beard wasn't on. </p><p>"Wait. Pull up the beard, son. Respect the suit." Frank told Eliot. </p><p>Parker hit Eliot's back. </p><p>"Told ya." Parker said. </p><p>Eliot pulled up the beard. </p><p>"What's going on, Frank?" Nate asked. </p><p>"The Toys for Tykes drive is back on -- thanks to Mr. Dooley." Frank explained. </p><p>"Yeah, it's still Christmas eve, and I said to Santa, it's not too late to make those kids' dreams come true." Dooley then started laughing, confusing the team as moved to the side. </p><p>"Drove a bus to the family shelter and loaded everyone up. At first, I thought it was the pills, but now I think he's really changed." Frank said, laughing as he went to join Dooley. </p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, go meet Chaos in the tunnels. The rest of you got some last-minute shopping to do." Nate said. </p><p>The team split to do their tasks. Eliot and Kaira made their way in the tunnels. Chaos was walking with the other Santas, and a bag fool of cash. Air was hissing as they walked towards each other. Eliot pulled down his beard. </p><p>"Well, if it isn't Kristina Kringle and Kris Kringle." Chaos said, obviously indicating Eliot as Kristina Kringle and Kaira as Kris Kringle. </p><p>"Chaos." Eliot said, making jazz hands. </p><p>"Hello, you son of a bitch." Kaira said, showing she was ready for blood. </p><p>"You killed my friend's van." Eliot said. </p><p>"Oh, yeah, I wrecked that van. Take them out, guys. Meet me at the garage." Chaos said. </p><p>The goons dropped their bags. </p><p>"We doing this beards or without beards, boys?" Eliot asked the goons approached him. </p><p>Kaira ran past and went after Chaos, getting him to run. Eliot quickly took out the Santas with punches and ramming his leg into the guts. </p><p>"Santa's coming to town." Eliot said as he took another goon down. </p><p>Nate was still in the mall. He got out his cell phone. </p><p>"Yes, I'm calling about the attack on the trunk lines." Nate said. </p><p>Eliot got whammed, and thrown into the pipe, which burst. Nate ended his phone call. </p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, what's happening?" Nate said. </p><p>"I'm chasing Chaos right now!" Kaira exclaimed as she ran through the tunnels. </p><p>Eliot yelled from the hot steam and the Santas grabbed the sacks and ran. </p><p>"Eliot." Nate repeated. </p><p>"Nate , they're headed back to the mall." Eliot said. </p><p>"Okay, I'll take it from here." Nate said, leaving. </p><p>Eliot also left. Parker, Nate, and Sophie were at the North Pole behind the crowd of kids, blocking the bad Santas from leaving. Sirens were heard. The police came in. </p><p>"Come on, spread the holiday cheer." Parker yelled at the bad Santas, who were confused. </p><p>"Now, you heard the elf." Frank said. </p><p>The kids got excited at the idea of toys, and the bad Santas opened the bags to reveal toys, not money in them. </p><p>See, Parker, Hardison, and Sophie filled the bags with gifts from under a tree, then as Eliot was fighting the Santas, Hardison and Parker switched out the bags. In the confusion and Eliot getting hit, he grabbed the valve, causing more confusion and forcing the bad Santas to go to the mall. Parker walked up to the lead FBI agent. </p><p>"Special Agent Hagen. You must have gotten my handler's call. Deep cover. You're gonna find the stolen cash under the tunnel." Parker explained. </p><p>Parker then stopped the group. </p><p>"Wait. Wait for the kids to leave. We don't want to ruin Christmas." Parker told the FBI agent. </p><p>Eliot snuck out from under the tree in another exit, wearing he was greeted by the same boy that had been questioning him most of the day. </p><p>"So, are you mean or not?" The boy asked Eliot. </p><p>Eliot grabbed a Rubber Robby doll and gave it to the boy. </p><p>"Shh. Don't tell anybody." Eliot said. </p><p>He got out from under the tree. Kaira saw Chaos climbing up to a grate and opening it. He got up, revealing Hardison was there along with two FBI agents. </p><p>"What's up, Mason?" Hardison said. </p><p>Kaira came up as Kaira walked up beside Hardison, wearing an FBI jacket. </p><p>"Oh. come on." Chaos said, upset he'd been played. </p><p>Chaos tried to run, but Kaira tacked him, knocking the sack over, revealing the money. See, Hardison put a tracker in the bag as Kaira was chasing Chaos. Kaira put Chao's hands behind his back and put on the handcuffs. </p><p>"Seriously?" Chaos said, upset. </p><p>Kaira stood Chaos up. </p><p>"This is for trying to kill Sophie." Kaira whispered in Chaos' ear and kicked his leg, causing Chaos to grunt as he buckled some, but Kaira kept him up, with Haridson revealing the tracker and keeping the FBI agents off of Kaira. </p><p>"This is for bringing my ex back into my life." Kaira whispered again in Chaos's ear and kicked his other knee in. </p><p>Kaira once again got close to Chaos' ear. </p><p>"And this is for destroying Hardison's van." Kaira whispered, kicking Chaos in the Achilles heel, once again buckling. </p><p>Kaira passed Chaos off to the other FBI agents. Another fed by Hardison took the bag and walked away. </p><p>"Hey, be careful with him, all right? I mean, he looks harmless, pathetic even -- weak chin, pale complexion -- but I assure you, he's dangerous." Hardison said. </p><p>"You have to admit it, it as a good plan." Chaos said. </p><p>"Yeah. But there's one thing you didn't count on." Hardison said. </p><p>"Oh, no." Chaos said, getting dragged away. </p><p>"You forgot about the true meaning..." Hardison started. </p><p>"No. No. Don't you say it!" Chaos said, angry as he was being dragged away. </p><p>"Of Christmas." Hardison finished his joke. </p><p>"Aah! That barely applies here!" Chaos yelled as he went out of view. </p><p>"Oh, and how much of a bitch I can be." Kaira called out to Chaos, feeling excited. </p><p>"Ho ho ho." Hardison finished. </p><p>Once the clean-up was done, they once again met back at the bar. The team was all gathered at the corner of the bar. Nate behind the bar, Sophie sitting on the bar, then Hardison, Eliot beside him, then Kaira, then Parker. This celebration called for champagne, so Nate poured everyone glasses. </p><p>"Hey, pardon my language on Christmas, but, uh, we kicked Chaos's ass." Hardison said, glad the job was over. </p><p>"Yes, we did. Here's to that." Nate said. </p><p>The team raised their glasses and they all toasted. They took a sip. </p><p>"Hey, so when are you gonna take that off?" Parker asked Eliot. </p><p>"The whole... the whole Santa beard... didn't do it for me." Sophie said. </p><p>"I'm sorry babe, but the red bandana works. But the suit has to go." Kaira said, chuckling at herself. </p><p>"Wow." Eliot said, not liking the negative feedback. </p><p>"Sorry." Sophie muttered. </p><p>"Hey, listen. This being Christmas Eve and all, um, Sophie and I, we thought -- well, me mostly -- Sophie definitely helped." Nate said, causing Sophie to scoff. </p><p>"We thought -- and by the way, there's no need to reciprocate, mind you -- it's  -- but we thought --" Nate tried to say. </p><p>"We got you presents." Sophie said. </p><p>Parker gasped. Kaira smiled, surprised. </p><p>"Yeah." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison was shocked, and Eliot was confused. </p><p>"You bought us gifts?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"Well, I wouldn't say bought, exactly. We, um, obtained." Sophie said. </p><p>"Yeah. So, Eliot..." Nate put his glass down. </p><p>"You're first." Nate said. </p><p>He reached underneath the bar and pulled out a sword and handed it to Eliot with both hands. Eliot took the sword and took off the cover for the handle, then pulled it out of the sheath partially (I am so sorry if I accidentally use the wrong terms here, I am not a sword person). Eliot was surprised but hid it well. Kaira smiled. </p><p>"This is a Hanzo sword." Eliot realized, his voice soft. </p><p>"Yeah." Nate confirmed. </p><p>"How'd..." Eliot smiled and stammered for a tad. </p><p>"Who did  you talk..." Eliot started showing his excitement. </p><p>"Well, I-I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a Samurai." Nate explained. Kaira rubbed her hand on Eliot's back, comforting him as she was excited for him. Sophie reached from under the bar and pulled out a small, flat box. </p><p>"Hardison." Sophie said, handing the box to Hardison. </p><p>Eliot sheathed the sword and walked away. Hardison took the top off the box and pulled out a device. </p><p>"No, this can't be." Hardison said. </p><p>He played with the casing a bit. </p><p>"It is. Prototype 7. They haven't even released version 5 yet." Hardison said, shocked. </p><p>"Well, I won't tell if you won't." Sophie said, rubbing her fingers on Nate's jacket. </p><p>"You better believe it." Hardison grabbed his glass and left to play with the device. </p><p>Nate laughed as Parker just stood there. </p><p>"Don't torture her." Sophie lightly hit Nate. </p><p>"Okay. All right, Parker, you're next. Put your hands out." Nate said, smiling as he handed Parker a yellow envelope with green, red, and silver curly ribbon on it. </p><p>Parker was smiling. She opened it up and gasped. </p><p>"How did you know?" Parker asked, excited as she pulled out the cash. </p><p>"Nonsequential serial numbers? My favorite!" Parker said, holding the cash to her chest and then smelled it. </p><p>She left, leaving Kaira there. Kaira turned and looked at the team, excited to see them happy. </p><p>"Of course, we didn't forget you, Kaira." Nate smiled at Kaira. </p><p>Kaira turned back and saw Nate grabbed another box. Kaira smiled at Nate and Sophie as she hesitantly grabbed the box. </p><p>"You didn't have to." Kaira said, surprised. </p><p>"No, I didn't. But I did." Nate said. </p><p>Kaira opened the box, revealing a box that a necklace would be in. Kaira sat the box on the bar, then held the necklace box. She opened it, revealing a necklace with a silver chain that was closely chained together, and an antique-style pendant. Kaira opened the pendant, revealing a locket that had Nate's picture on one side that had "dad" in old print engraved at the bottom plate, and on the other side Sophie's picture that had "mom" in the same spot. Kaira put her hand up to her mouth, shocked. Kaira all but leaped across the bar to Nate, hugging him. </p><p>"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kaira said, getting hyper as she was happy. </p><p>Nate chuckled and smiled as he hugged Kaira. </p><p>"Merry Christmas, kiddo." Nate said. </p><p>He placed a kiss on the top of Kaira's head. Then Kaira got up and sat on the bar to hug Sophie. </p><p>"Thank you, Sophie." Kaira whispered.</p><p>"You're welcome, sweetie." Sophie said, smiling at Kaira. </p><p>Kaira left to go sit at a booth to put her necklace on. Eliot then unsheathed the sword and cut the corner of the chair off by slicing it. </p><p>"Oh!" Sophie said, slightly regretting getting Eliot the sword. </p><p>Nate was smiling at his team at how happy they were. Parker was sniffing her money and Hardison was playing with the gizmo. Kaira was putting the necklace on and looking at the locket. Sophie sighed, content with the moment she was in.</p><p>"You know, I got something for you, too." Nate told Sophie. "Oh, you shouldn't have." Sophie said. </p><p>"Yeah, you're right." Nate said when Sophie spun around. </p><p>"Give it to me quick." Sophie said, getting off the bar as Nate grabbed the wooden box. </p><p>"Here you are." Nate said. Sophie grabbed the box and opened it, revealing the necklace that she said she liked, with  "your name here" engraved. </p><p>"Your name here." Sophie said. </p><p>"You know, you don't have to get me anything. In fact, I'd prefer if you didn't. I'm very hard to shop for, so..." Nate said when Sophie shushed him. </p><p>"I, uh..." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie grabbed a napkin and a pen. </p><p>"I'm gonna give you something." Sophie said. </p><p>She wrote something down and gave it to Nate. </p><p>"There's something... for you." Sophie said. </p><p>Nate took the napkin. </p><p>"Merry Christmas." Sophie said. </p><p>"Merry Christmas." Nate smiled. </p><p>Nate and Sophie looked at each other. </p><p>Parker then looked outside, causing the others to stop what they were doing as Kaira joined Parker at the door. The snow was falling steadily. Kaira smiled and held out her tongue along with Parker as the girls giggled. Eliot smiled at how cute Kaira was. Kaira and Parker felt like little kids seeing snow for the first time. After finishing their drinks, everyone went to bed. Christmas morning, Kaira was up just as the sun was up, too excited to sleep in. She was in the kitchen in Nate's apartment making breakfast and texted the team to join her. </p><p>When morning arrived, Kaira had everything set up on the table. They all came in and saw the food on the table, and the various sized boxes on the briefing table. </p><p>"Merry Christmas." Kaira smiled, placing the plate of bacon on the table. </p><p>"Merry Christmas." Parker smiled, hugging Kaira. </p><p>"What is all this?" Nate asked Kaira. </p><p>Kaira walked around the table. </p><p>"Well, I figured since it's Christmas, I'd make you all breakfast. And I got you all some presents on the table there." Kaira pointed to the table, causing the team to turn and look. </p><p>"Kaira, you didn't have to do this." Hardison said, surprised. </p><p>"It's Christmas." Kaira said, smiling at the team. </p><p>"Let's eat. Come on." Kaira said, signaling for everyone to sit. </p><p>"Can't we do presents first?" Parker asked, excited. Kaira chuckled. </p><p>"No, Parker, we're eating first." Kaira said. </p><p>The team all sat down and ate and talked all morning. Then, once the table was cleaned, they all stood a the briefing table. In a row were several boxes, one for each team member. The team was surprised but excited. </p><p>"All right. Eliot, here's your gift." Kaira grabbed a box and handed it to Eliot, and hid his smile as he opened his box. </p><p>He opened it, revealing a new knife set for cooking. Eliot looked at Kaira, a smile on his face. </p><p>"Thank you." Eliot said, hugging Kaira. </p><p>"You're welcome." Kaira said. </p><p>Eliot placed a quick kiss on Kaira's lips. Eliot then reached back in the bag and pulled out a card. On the card was a curled arm. He read it and smiled at Kaira. He left to put the knife  Kaira grabbed another box. </p><p>"All right, Parker, you're next." Kaira handed to box to Parker, who excitedly took the box. </p><p>She opened it, revealing a stuffed teddy and another card with a crowbar. Parker read it and hugged Kaira. She left and played with the teddy. Kaira grabbed the next box. </p><p>"All right, Sophie. This is yours." Kaira handed the box to Sophie, who was smiling. </p><p>She opened it, revealing a wooden picture frame with a picture of Kaira that had "daughter" burned into the wood at the bottom. Sophie smiled and hugged Kaira. </p><p>"Oh, I love it." Sophie said, excited. </p><p>Kaira smiled as Sophie looked at the card. It had the tragedy and comedy masks for theater on it. Sophie opened it and smiled and hugged Kaira again. She put the photo down. Kaira grabbed the next box. </p><p>"Hardison?" Kaira said, handing the box to Hardison. </p><p>He smiled and opened the box, seeing a nice RC car. He pulled it out of the box, all smiles. He hugged Kaira and grabbed the card, which had a laptop on it, and read it. He hugged Kaira again and left to play with the car. </p><p>"Nathan, this is yours." Kaira handed the box to Nate. </p><p>"No, Kaira, you don't have to." Nate tried to argue but Kaira handed the box to Nate. </p><p>"Nate, I insist." Kaira said. </p><p>Nate took the box and opened it. He smiled as he opened the box. He pulled out a picture frame that was identical to the one Sophie had. She smiled and pulled Kaira into a hug. </p><p>"Thank you, Kiddo." Nate said, moved by the gesture. </p><p>Kaira hugged him. </p><p>"Merry Christmas, Nate." Kaira whispered. </p><p>She let go and Nate went to put the photo in his bedroom. The team was all around the offices, happy as can be on Christmas. </p><p>Later the night, Eliot and Kaira went back into their apartment. Kaira and Eliot took off their jackets. Eliot and Kaira held each other and kissed. Kaira and Eliot chuckled at each other. Eliot let go. </p><p>"I got you something, Princess." Eliot said. </p><p>"Okay." Kaira smiled. </p><p>She took off her shoes as Eliot went into the bedroom and Kaira was behind him. Eliot went into the drawer and pulled out a necklace box. When he turned, Kaira was in her lingerie. Eliot smiled and handed the box to Kaira. Kaira took it. </p><p>"Eliot, you didn't have to." Kaira said. </p><p>"What, am I not supposed to give my Princess something for Christmas?" Eliot questioned. </p><p>Kaira smiled and opened the box. In it was a gold necklace with a fancy "E" pendant. Kaira smiled. </p><p>"I love it!" Kaira hugged Eliot. </p><p class="">Eliot chuckled at how excited Kaira was. Kaira took the necklace out of the box and sat the box on the drawer. She handed the necklace to Eliot. He undid the clasp and put the necklace around her neck. Kaira looked at it and looked at Eliot. He kissed her again on the lips. Kaira chuckled and grabbed the bottom of Eliot's shirt and lifted it up. Eliot then grabbed his shirt and lifted it off. He held Kaira and kissed her as he moved her to the bed. Needless to say, they enjoyed the night. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I knew I wanted to make this chapter wholesome. I'm super excited to get to the next chapter as it is my favorite episode of this season! Here is the chapterly Leverage edit!</p><p>https://youtu.be/yQgolufTCuA</p><p>That's all I'm gonna say for now, but stay tuned for it! Thank you so much for the love on this series! Stay safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0045"><h2>45. The Big Bang Job (3x15)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This job is action-packed and risky as Hell for everyone as the team finally goes after the father of all criminals, Damien Moreau. After the Italian gives Nate a warning that Damien Moreau is in town, and a surprise visitor from Kaira's past warns her of Moreau's plans to put a hit out on a young scientist named Yasmin, the team gets a plan in motion. After saving Yasmin, the team discovers that Moreau is holding an auction for a weapon. Things get complicated when Eliot and Kaira's pasts threaten the con, forcing the couple to make choices neither of them wanted, and Kaira is forced to remember a traumatic event from her past.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! Sorry about the late-night upload of my last chapter. Welp, here we are! One of my favorite episodes of season 3! And if you remember my list, this episode is number 4 on the list of my top 10 favorite Leverage episodes! I'm so excited to show you what I came up with for this chapter, as I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while! As I promised in the last chapter, this episode will be action-packed, and the next one will be just as action-packed! I'm super excited to share this chapter, so I won't share anymore.</p><p>One last thing before I go into this chapter.  I want to give you all a warning. In this chapter, I will be talking about sexual assault. While I won't get graphic, I want to give a heads up in case anyone reading this has a similar story, and hearing about a sexual assault will upset them. And I mean that in the most respectful way I can. I will also be placing a warning in the chapter itself before it is mentioned and once it's done. This will happen a couple of times in the chapter. If you have gone through a sexual assault, I am so sorry that this is something you have gone through, and my inbox is always open to anyone and everyone if you need someone to talk to. I'm here to listen. With that out of the way, to do hope you enjoy this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The bodies of Moreau's goons were littered all over the warehouse. Kaira was breathing heavily and was trying to calm her panic. The only thing that brought her back out of her trance was hearing a gun cock behind her. The only thing that Kaira was thinking of was, "How the Hell did I end up here?"</p><p>Sometime Earlier</p><p>Kaira and Eliot were laying in bed together. It was early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet. The couple was woken up by a knock on their apartment door. Kaira groaned as she sat up. Eliot grabbed her arm.</p><p>"Come back to bed." Eliot mumbled.</p><p>Kaira chuckled.</p><p>"In a minute, sleepyhead. I'll get the door." Kaira smiled.</p><p>She placed a kiss on Eliot's forehead and smiled as she left the bedroom, putting on a loose t-shirt. She turned on the light to the living room and walked up to the door. In the doorway was a man Kaira hadn't seen since she left New York to join the army. He had medium-length dark blond hair and a beard.</p><p>
  
</p><p>(This is what he'd look like, roughly. Just go along with it.)</p><p>Behind him were two men, all dressed in suits and acted as guards. Kaira smiled at the man and hugged him.</p><p>"Zio Leo!" Kaira exclaimed, chuckling.</p><p>"Good to see you, Piccolo." Uncle Leo said, having a thick Italian accent.</p><p>Kaira let go and just chuckled, surprised to see her Uncle, aka the Don of the New York mob. In his hand was a white paper bag.</p><p>"What's it been, zio Leo?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Too long, Piccolo." He said.</p><p>Kaira then heard Eliot coming up behind her. She turned and saw that Eliot was about to fight the men behind Kaira's uncle.</p><p>"Eliot, it's okay." Kaira calmed Eliot down.</p><p>Kaira walked back up to the door and her uncle.</p><p>"Eliot, this is my uncle Leo." Kaira gestured to Eliot, then to her uncle.</p><p>"Zio Leo, this is my husband, Eliot Spencer" Kaira smiled as she gestured from her Uncle back to Eliot.</p><p>Eliot extended his hand and shook hands with Uncle Leo.</p><p>"So you're the one who my niece keeps telling me about." Uncle Leo said, jokingly.</p><p>"All good I hope." Eliot joked.</p><p>They let go and Kaira was smiling.</p><p>"Ah, jeez where are my manners? Come in, I'll get some coffee brewing." Kaira smiled and went to walk away.</p><p>"Hey, Piccolo, you forgetting something?" Uncle Leo said, holding up the bag.</p><p>Kaira walked back over and grabbed the bag.</p><p>"What is that?" Kaira asked, opening the bag.</p><p>"When I told your nonna that I was visiting, she insisted I bring you a pastry." Uncle Leo said, smiling.</p><p>Kaira smelled the pastry and was reminded of her nonna's kitchen. She shut the door and her Uncle's guys stayed outside. Kaira got the coffee brewing and put the pastry on a plate to eat. She grabbed some coffee mugs and sat them on the table. Kaira sat down, taking a couple of bites of pastry.</p><p>"How's zia Marie, zio?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"She's good. She misses you." Uncle Leo.</p><p>"And nonna Rosalind?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"She's also good. She misses you, Piccolo. We all do." Uncle Leo said, showing a hint of sadness.</p><p>"I know, zio. Maybe for Easter, we'll come up." Kaira smiled, also showing some sadness.</p><p>"They'd like that." Uncle Leo smiled at Kaira.</p><p>"Ah, little Piccolo. I heard some stories. You are under the wing of Jimmy Ford's son?" Uncle Leo said, proud.</p><p>"Yep. That's true." Kaira smiled.</p><p>"I also heard you've taken on some big fish, Piccolo. Even heard you got the nastiest crew on the Atlantic." Uncle Leo said.</p><p>"Yeah. I finally found a job that's for me. Helping people. Just like dad." Kaira explained.</p><p>"I'm proud of you, Piccolo." Uncle Leo said.</p><p>Uncle Leo sat straighter. Kaira and Eliot got concerned.</p><p>"What is it, zio?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"I wish I could say I was here for a reunion, but I'm not. I have some information for you, Piccolo, and you Eliot." Uncle Leo revealed.</p><p>"What?" Eliot asked.</p><p>"What information, zio?" Kaira asked, worried.</p><p>"Some of my informers told me you and your crew were going after Damien Moreau." Uncle Leo said.</p><p>"Wait, informers?" Eliot questioned.</p><p>"It's what my family calls them. They're people all over that report activities and information to my uncle and his guys." Kaira explained.</p><p>"Anyways, some of my informers told me that Damien Moreau boarded a plane and is headed to D.C. His plane is arriving tomorrow." Uncle Leo explained.</p><p>"What?" Kaira and Eliot questioned.</p><p>"That's not the worst of it, Piccolo. My informers also told me that Moreau put a hit out on a young woman, a scientist named Yasmin. That's all I managed to get. My informers were hesitant, to say the least. I wasn't that surprised, given who they were reporting on." Uncle Leo explained.</p><p>Kaira and Eliot just looked at each other.</p><p>"We'll get that information to our team." Kaira said.</p><p>Uncle Leo stood up.</p><p>"As much as I want to stay and meet this team of yours, Piccolo, I am on an early flight back to New York." Uncle Leo said.</p><p>"It's okay, zio. Thank you for telling us this." Kaira stood up along with Eliot.</p><p>Uncle Leo put his hands on Kaira's shoulders.</p><p>"Be careful, Piccolo. I've heard stories of this uomo cattivo. He is a bad man. He's got his fingers in everything." Uncle Leo warned.</p><p>"I know, zio, I know. That's why we have to take him down. Plus I got Eliot. I'll be okay." Kaira smiled at Eliot, who smiled back.</p><p>"Ti amo, Piccolo." Uncle Leo said.</p><p>"Ti amo, zio." Kaira smiled.</p><p>They kissed cheeks and Eliot shook his hand and Kaira escorted him out. Kaira shut the door behind him. She turned to Eliot and she leaned against the door.</p><p>"Piccolo?" Eliot questioned, smiling at Kaira.</p><p>"It's a nickname my uncle gave me. It means "little one" in Italian." Kaira explained.</p><p>Eliot smiled back. Then what Kaira's uncle told them sunk in.</p><p>"This is bad." Kaira said.</p><p>"I know, sweetheart. We've got to warn the team." Eliot said.</p><p>"Yeah, I'll call Nate. Meanwhile, call the others in and get Hardison to track down this Yasmin. If this is a Moreau hit, then it's happening today." Kaira said.</p><p>"And if Hardison complains?" Eliot asked, smirking.</p><p>"Tell him if he complains, I'll kick his ass." Kaira smirked back and pulled Eliot to her and kiss him.</p><p>They got changed and Eliot went over to Nate's apartment. Kaira stayed behind and dialed Nate's phone. He picked up.</p><p>"Nate, we got a problem." Kaira said.</p><p>"Yeah, I know." Nate said over the phone, clearly in the car.</p><p>"What? How did you find out about it?" Kaira asked.</p><p>"Uh--" Nate said.</p><p>"Nevermind. Nathan, my uncle showed up." Kaira revealed.</p><p>"You mean your uncle that's the Don of the New York mob? What's he doing in Boston?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Yes. That one. He wanted to personally deliver me a message. Look, Moreau put a hit out on a scientist named Yasmin. Hardison's searching for her now. And there's something else, Nathan." Kaira said.</p><p>"What is it, Kaira?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Moreau's coming." Kaira revealed.</p><p>"I heard. I'm on my way back from meeting the Italian, so have Hardison keep looking for this Yasmin and figure out what the hit is." Nate said.</p><p>He hung the phone up. Kaira looked at the phone and groaned.</p><p>"Of course he knows." Kaira said.</p><p>She left and walked over to Nates apartment. Hardison was still looking up Yasmin and the rest of the team soon came and joined Kaira, Eliot, and Hardison at the briefing table.</p><p>"Kaira, what in the world is going on?" Sophie asked, joining the team, setting her purse down.</p><p>Parker joined at the table.</p><p>"So, our first problem, guess who's in town?" Kaira said.</p><p>"Who?" Parker asked.</p><p>"Damien Moreau. My uncle flew up to tell me personally." Kaira explained.</p><p>The team all had worrying expressions.</p><p>"What?" Sophie, Parker, and Hardison questioned.</p><p>"Your uncle? The mob Don?" Hardison questioned, looking at Kaira like she was crazy.</p><p>"Yeah. He got word that Moreau was flying in. Moreau should be arriving tomorrow. Which leads me to the second problem, and what Hardison is doing." Kaira said.</p><p>"Kaira's uncle told us that he heard that Moreau put out a hit on this woman named Yasmin. All we were able to get was that she was a scientist." Eliot continued explaining.</p><p>"And if this is a Moreau hit, then it's likely she doesn't have a lot of time left." Kaira said, explaining the rush.</p><p>"I'm trying, but without more, it's gonna take time." Hardison said.</p><p>"I know. Just keep working." Kaira said.</p><p>By mid-day, Hardison managed to track down the unfortunate woman. Then the team came up with a plan. They managed to track down Yasmin at an off-campus Department of Defense research lab. So at night, the OT4 (Yes, that's what I'm calling them) took pictures and acted like they were looking at Yasmin's research and grabbed some of it, and then one of them grabbed Yasmin and took her outside.</p><p>"That is DOD property! This is a Federal crime! You guys are in deep--" Yasmin exclaimed upset, when all of a sudden, her office exploded, causing her to turn and panic.</p><p>"Oh my god. What's happening? W--what's going on?" Yasmin asked, hugging Hardison.</p><p>The four took off their black masks.</p><p>"We're saving your life." Eliot said.</p><p>They loaded her up and took her to the bar.</p><p>The sun was barely up when Nate arrived at the table, a plate of breakfast in hand as he walked over. Kaira had poured some coffee and was sitting next to Yasmin. Sophie was across from them.</p><p>"Here you are." Nate said, setting the plate down.</p><p>"Thank you." Yasmin said.</p><p>Nate sat down.</p><p>"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for you saving me." Yasmin said, slightly confused.</p><p>"Okay, well, actually, we didn't. As of now, you are officially dead." Nate explained.</p><p>Yasmin was not pleased.</p><p>"We have to keep it that way to keep you safe." Kaira said, feeling bad for Yasmin.</p><p>"Who would want to kill me? I'm -- I'm nobody." Yasmin questioned.</p><p>"Damien Moreau." Nate answered.</p><p>Yasmin just shrugged her shoulders, silently saying she didn't know him.</p><p>"Damien Moreau is, um, he's an international financier. He, uh, runs money for drug dealers, smugglers. He's, um--" Nate tried to explain when Sophie interrupted.</p><p>"He's a jack of all trades." Sophie pointed out.</p><p>"Most of them are bloody." Kaira finished.</p><p>"What would he want with me?" Yasmin asked.</p><p>"Well, we have reason to believe that this has something to do with this guy, your boss, at the Department of Defense." Nate said, pointing to the plans on the table.</p><p>"Elias Atherton." Yasmin said.</p><p>"What's he like?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"He was some kind of General. Then he retired and started working for the research arm of the DoD. He's kind of a jerk. And not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. But, I can't believe he'd be involved in something like this." Yasmin said.</p><p>"Well, he's been in Moreau's pocket for years. And we have evidence of payments going back a decade." Nate explained.</p><p>"This project that you're working on with him. What is it?" Sophie asked.</p><p>"Well that's why this is all so crazy. You're gonna laugh." Yasmin said, surprised.</p><p>"Bet we don't." Nate said.</p><p>"It's a battery." Yasmin explained.</p><p>While the trio didn't laugh, it was odd. What would a man like Damien Moreau need a battery? Kaira got Parker and Hardison down and had Yasmin show them the battery. They sat at a table, gathered around Yasmin, who was holding a tablet.</p><p>"That's a lot of energy for a small battery." Hardison pointed out.</p><p>"Yeah." Yasmin chuckled.</p><p>"It blow up?" Parker asked nonchalantly, taking a sip of her drink.</p><p>"Not everything blows up, Parker." Hardison pointed out.</p><p>Parker sighed, blowing air out her lips.</p><p>"Everything blows up, silly." Parker said.</p><p>"No, it's just a power source. I was working in a civilian laboratory when Atherton and the DoD folded in my research grant with one of their projects. That's when I started asking questions." Yasmin said.</p><p>Just then, Nate called for Yasmin as he walked in, holding a yellow folder.</p><p>"Your ride is just outside." Nate said.</p><p>Yasmin and Kaira got up and walked to Nate. Nate handed her the envelope and a card.</p><p>"Okay, now, uh, talk to this guy." Nate said. </p><p>"Detective Captain Bonnano." Yasmin read the card. </p><p>"He's a friend of ours. Just talk to him only, and he'll keep you safe." Kaira added. </p><p>"Thank you." Yasmin said. </p><p>"Well, thank us when it's over." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie walked in and Yasmin grabbed her things and walked out. </p><p>"If we're around." Nate said, not liking the stakes. </p><p>He walked over to the table with Kaira. </p><p>"I called some friends in Europe. Damien Moreau is running an auction at the end of the week." Sophie went to sit down. </p><p>"Two million-dollar buy-in. High rollers only. Something about Ram's Horn." Sophie explained as Kaira and Nate sat down. </p><p>"Yasmin's deadline was this week. That's not a coincidence." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"Time to notify the Feds?" Hardison questioned. </p><p>"No, Athertons too connected. No, if we come at him straight on, he's just gonna call in some favor from a Senator, and he'll skate on this whole thing." Nate said. </p><p>Eliot then walked in and walked to the table. </p><p>"If Moreau was bothered by the cops, he wouldn't be staying in a downtown hotel in D.C." Eliot said, sitting next to Kaira. </p><p>"You're keeping tabs on Moreau?" Sophie questioned Eliot. </p><p>"I make it a priority to know where Moreau is at all times. So we can avoid him. Atherton's a General in the Black ops. Moreau. Well, he's Moreau. We need more time." Eliot said. </p><p>"We've run out of time." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"To prep this." Eliot said, not liking the timetable. </p><p>"First things first, we need to figure out what this Ram's Horn is, and why Yasmin's battery is important to it. Second, we need to figure out where Moreau is holding the auction." Kaira pointed out. </p><p>"Hey, you cool man?" Hardison asked Eliot. </p><p>Eliot tried to speak, but couldn't. </p><p>"Nate, me, Kaira, and Hardison will hit Moreau. We'll get an invite to the auction." Eliot said, looking at Kaira to make sure she was ready.</p><p>Kaira nodded her head, saying she was good with the plan. </p><p>"Okay, you guys do that. And the rest of us, we'll find out what the hell this, uh, this Ram's Horn thing is, and uh, Sophie. Who exactly can get into a government facility on short notice?" Nate said. </p><p>"The President, the Vice President, any of the joint chiefs, and anyone from Congress." Sophie answered. </p><p>"All right, perfect. Nobody knows who their congressman is." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"It's a DoD lab, so best I can do is visitor passes. Maybe media relations, but nothing classified." Hardison pointed out. </p><p>"All right, well, that'll get us in. Atherton will do the rest. Let's go steal the Department of Defence." Nate said the rallying cry. </p><p>"Isn't that treason?" Parker questioned. </p><p>"We'll give it back." Nate said. </p><p>He left and the team got to work on their plans. Nate, Sophie, and Parker went to the DoD to do their part, while Eliot and Kaira got mentally prepared to face Moreau and drove to the hotel Moreau was staying at. </p><p>At the DoD facility, Nate walked up to Atherton on the steps, dressed in a suit, briefcase in hand. </p><p>"General Atherton. Thank goodness. Lionel Whitney, Legislative liaison with the DoD. There's been an emergency." Nate introduced himself. </p><p>"I don't believe we've met." Atherton said, dismissing Nate. </p><p>"Oh, yes we have. Geneva. Yes, last year, the CERN conference. I was part of your team when you were bidding on the X-1 project." Nate said. </p><p>"Of course. Of course." Atherton handed his second a tablet. </p><p>"Uh, Bixby. Come back later." Atherton ordered. </p><p>Bixby left. </p><p>"Now, we need to get you out of here." Nate said, leading Atherton up the steps. </p><p>"What's wrong?" Atherton asked. </p><p>"Well, it's not what, it's who." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie finished signing in with Parker. </p><p>"General Atherton." Sophie called up to them, causing Nate to yell and stop. </p><p>"Her." Nate pointed to Sophie. </p><p>Back at the hotel, Hardison was dressed as a caterer, pushing a cart of food, dressed in a tux. Kaira and Eliot waited for Hardison. Hardison came and they got ready. </p><p>"Moreau's having a party downstairs. Only way in's the service elevator." Eliot reported. </p><p>"Okay. So here's the plan. We just got to use this to get downstairs. Once we're there, I'm the middle man, you two are my bodyguards." Hardison said, slowly moving to the elevator. </p><p>"I'm your bodyguard?" Eliot questioned quietly. </p><p>Kaira put her fingers in her jeans pocket, hiding her ring. </p><p>"That's your plan?" Kaira questioned quietly, knowing what her and Eliot's plan was. </p><p>The trio walked up to the three guards blocking the elevator. One of them stuck their hand out, wanting Hardison to stop. </p><p>"What is this?" He asked, having a European accent. </p><p>"Gason. I'm the manager of the kitchen, and I wanted to personally deliver Mr. Moreau his cuisine." Hardison said, putting a French accent on. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira stared the guards down. </p><p>"Who the hell are you?" Another guard asked Eliot. </p><p>"Me? I'm Eliot Spencer." Eliot said. </p><p>"Kaira Newton." Kaira introduced herself. </p><p>Kaira could sense the look Hardison was giving. </p><p>"Open the door." The guard ordered. </p><p>The third guard opened the door. </p><p> "This way." The second guy said. </p><p>The elevator doors opened and Eliot, Kaira, and Hardison along with a guard walked in. Kaira and Eliot discreetly took off their wedding rings. </p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, why did you tell them your real names?" Hardison asked quietly. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira just looked at each other, knowing the place they'd have to go to mentally. </p><p>"Why did you tell them your real names?" Hardison asked again. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira remained silent, only glancing at each other to make sure they were ready. Kaira wasn't going to lie, her stomach was in knots. What was about to be revealed was something Kaira hadn't thought about since it ended. </p><p>"Why did you tell them your real names? Why did you tell them your real names?" Hardison asked again. </p><p>"Just stick close to us, okay? This might get messy." Eliot whispered. </p><p>Hardison just shook his head. </p><p>Back at the DoD facility, Atherton led Sophie, Nate, and Parker in a room. </p><p>"In here, Congresswoman. This is where my team does their high-energy research." Atherton said, opening the door and leading Sophie in. </p><p>"Ooh, I gonna need more details than that, General, to see what ya might be wastin' the taxpayer's money on." Sophie said, putting on a southern accent. </p><p>"I served my country for 20 years, congresswoman. I don't need lectures." Atherton said, offended. </p><p>"Ah, General. If I could have a word over here. Thank you." Nate said, leading Atherton away as Parker lifted his wallet. </p><p>She showed it to Sophie, who put her hand down. </p><p>"Please do not antagonize her." Nate warned. </p><p>"Ah, she's another anti-war local hack. I can handle her." Atherton insisted. </p><p>"Ah, no, no, no. She's an angry ex-schoolteacher with subpoena power. She will make your life Hell, trust me. Happy face, happy face. Let's go." Nate said. </p><p>Nate started laughing a bit. "Yes." Nate laughed. </p><p>"Of course, I can show you the work we're doing here. Everything but the fifth floor. That requires Indigo level clearance. Top secret." Atherton said, walking back to Sophie. </p><p>"It'll have to do." Sophie said, walking away, but then acted like she remembered something. </p><p>"Ooh, my assistant needs to make a few calls. Would you mind if she stays behind while I go on this nonclassified tour?" Sophie said as Atherton joined her. </p><p>"She's not cleared to be alone in here." Atherton said. </p><p>"General, uh, let's not inconvenience Representative Hanko here. How about I stay with the girl and you can show the congresswoman around?" Nate suggested as Sophie lifted his phone. </p><p>"Of course. Follow me." Atherton said, ready to go. </p><p>"Thank you." Sophie said. </p><p>Atherton opened the door. </p><p>"Ooh. Use my phone. The numbers are on speed dial." Sophie said, tossing Nate Atherton's phone as they left. </p><p>At the hotel, Eliot, Kaira, Hardison, and the security guard all walked into the pool room, where immediately goons pulled out their guns. They walked along the side of the pool, seeing another man surrounded by bikini-clad women in a hot tub, sitting at a table. He stood up and met with the trio at the back of the pool. Eliot and Kaira got in his face as goons surrounded the man and the trio. The goons cocked their guns and pointed them at the trio, causing the women to mutter and leave, panicked. Eliot and Kaira stayed stone-faced. </p><p>"Chapman." Eliot said. </p><p>"Eliot." Chapman looked at Eliot. Chapman turned to Kaira. </p><p>"Kaira Newton. Always a pleasure." Chapman said, flirting a bit.</p><p>
  <span class="u">
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      <em>TW: Mention of sexual assault.</em>
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</p><p>"Chapman. Never a pleasure." Kaira said, still being stone-faced. </p><p>"You still mad about me for that incident?" Chapman asked Kaira. </p><p>"You mean when you got me drunk and tried to take advantage of me?" Kaira questioned quietly, getting close to Chapman. </p><p>"That's not how I remember it." Chapman said. </p><p>Kaira just scoffed, dropping the topic for now.</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>
      <span class="u">End of TW</span>
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</p><p>"They gave you the job?" Eliot questioned Chapman, not bringing up what Kaira said. </p><p>"There was an opening." Chapman said. </p><p>Just then a door opened, revealing the man himself, Damien Moreau, drying himself off. Eliot and Kaira turned to him. </p><p>"That's no way to treat a couple of old friends." Moreau said, signaling his goons to stand down. </p><p>The goons uncocked their guns and put them away. Moreau walked up to Eliot and Kaira. </p><p>"Damien." Eliot said. </p><p>"Damien." Kaira said, also remaining stone-faced. </p><p>"Let's catch up." Moreau said. </p><p>Hardison was still confused and shocked. </p><p>Back at the DoD facility, Nate swiped a card on Athertons computer to get in. </p><p>"Atherton's security clearance card." Nate said as he swiped the card. </p><p>Parker sat down and plugged in the USB as Nate put the briefcase on the table. Parker got the computer up and running. </p><p>"Okay, what do you got?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Nothing called Ram's Horn. Just a bunch of file numbers. This is way too much data to download. We're gonna have to narrow this down." Parker said. </p><p>Nate thought a second and grabbed Atherton's phone. </p><p>"Atherton's phone." Nate said. </p><p>He looked through the contacts and saw there was a recent call to Bixby, who he remembered was with Atherton when he first walked in. Nate dialed the phone and called Bixby, pretending to be Atherton. He got Bixby to send over the file number and showed Parker the number. Parker started downloading the files. </p><p>Back at the hotel, things had taken a change. Hardison was handcuffed to a chair at the edge of the pool. Eliot and Kaira were on opposite sides of him. </p><p>"You call this a plan?" Hardison questioned Eliot quietly. </p><p>"I'm not handcuffed to anything." Eliot said quietly. </p><p>Hardison glared at the couple as they watched Moreau pour a drink. Moreau walked over. </p><p>"You two work alone." Moreau pointed to the couple. </p><p>"Thing's change." Eliot said. Moreau sat down. </p><p>"Don't take it personally. Takes me a while to warm up to people." Moreau told Hardison. </p><p>Just then a woman in a gold bikini came over with three glasses of champagne. </p><p>"He prefers beer. She prefers whiskey." Moreau told the woman. </p><p>Kaira chuckled a tad. Hardison went to grab the champagne flute, but the woman walked away before Hardison could grab it. </p><p>"This one of your retrieval jobs, Eliot? Kaira? Tell me, whose Snoopy lunch box do I have?" Moreau demanded. </p><p>"It's not a retrieval." Eliot answered. </p><p>"We're escorting the middleman. We're contracted to make sure he gets in and out of here alive with an offer." Kaira said. </p><p>Hardison cleared his throat. </p><p>"Pardon. Monsieur. My client has heard what you are selling and would like to acquire the Ram's Horn." Hardison said, still in cover. </p><p>"And your client is?" Moreau asked Hardison. </p><p>Hardison acted reluctantly. </p><p>"Eh, if you indulge us with the details of the auction, we can make a deal, all will be forgiven. I assure you we are working in good faith." Hardison suggested. </p><p>"I'm sure you are. I'm sure you are. But I don't know you." Moreau pointed at Hardison. </p><p>He looked at Eliot and Kaira. </p><p>"I do know you. We could talk." Moreau offered the couple. </p><p>"We ain't big on talking, Moreau." Kaira said. </p><p>Moreau thought of what Kaira said. </p><p>"Okay. Let's keep it short." Moreau said, putting his glass down. </p><p>He stood up and walked to Hardison. He kicked Hardison's chair in the pool, Hardison screaming as he hit the water. Kaira and Eliot tried to not react. </p><p>"I'm sure you told your client I don't do business with strangers." Moreau said. </p><p>"That's why we're here. To vouch for him." Eliot said. </p><p>"Ah, a little vague." Moreau said. </p><p>"We never told anybody about you." Kaira said. </p><p>"We use the same confidentiality with all our clients. However we can say, they're overseas." Eliot said. </p><p>"You sell it to the international buyer, it leaves the U.S. Your hands will be clean as always. Just how you like it." Kaira sold the idea. </p><p>"I already have international buyers, so, uh, it's not an issue." Moreau said. </p><p>He thought about the offer as he grabbed his drink. Kaira and Eliot silently worried about Hardison. </p><p>"What else you got?" Moreau asked. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira made a Devil's deal and Moreau threw the keys down into the pool. Soon, Hardison came up and he got out of the pool, coughing to catch his breath as he rejoined the couple, buttoning his suit and drying his face. </p><p>"And what message I should convey to my employer?" Hardison asked, still dripping. </p><p>Moreau started laughing. </p><p>"I like this one." Moreau kept laughing. </p><p>Hardison started shivering from still being soaking wet. </p><p>"Glad we could strike a deal. Reminds me of Belgrade." Moreau said. </p><p>He walked away. Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira started walking away. </p><p>"Come on." Eliot said. </p><p> "I lowered the chair and sucked the air from the pneumatic, it gave me an extra 30 seconds. It better be why you two didn't get me, cause you'd know I'd do that, right?" Hardison asked, not happy at all with what happened as they left, letting the girls walk back into the room. </p><p>"Yeah, Hardison. Cause I knew you were gonna suck air out of a chair." Eliot growled. </p><p>"It better be why didn't come and get me." Hardison repeated as they left. </p><p>"Sure, Hardison." Kaira said, glad that part of the job was over. </p><p>They left the hotel and met with the others at a park. Parker was sitting on a bench with Nate and Sophie across from her as she was holding a tablet. </p><p>"It looks like a--" Parker said, handing the tablet to Sophie. </p><p>"A fish? A complicated fish. We need to give Yasmin a ring." Sophie said. </p><p>Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira walked over, having already put back on their rings. </p><p>"No, I want to keep Yasmin clear." Nate looked at the trio. </p><p>"What?" Nate questioned, seeing Hardison's upset manor, and still damp suit. </p><p>"Tell them what you did, you two. Hmm? You risked my life." Hardison said, in Eliot's face. </p><p>"We're in." Eliot said, ignoring Hardison. </p><p>"Moreau's gonna give us the details of the auction tomorrow." Kaira said, praying she wouldn't have to tell the truth. </p><p>"You two? Why he giving you--" Sophie questioned when Eliot cut her off. </p><p>"I said we're in! Just make the plan." Eliot said, not wanting it brought up again. </p><p>"Hey, Eliot and Kaira worked with Moreau back in the day." Hardison said, Kaira just covered her mouth, knowing what she'd have to do next as Eliot grabbed her arm, hoping to comfort Kaira while hiding his own shame and guilt. </p><p>"A lot. Tell them." Hardison pressured the couple. </p><p>"Dammit, Hardison." Kaira growled, upset at herself that she and Eliot had to admit something that they both agreed never to talk about again. </p><p>Hardison sat down, leaving just the couple standing. Nate stood up. </p><p>"We've been chasing for six months. And you didn't tell us?" Nate said, not pleased at all. </p><p>"Because I was trying--" Eliot said when Nate interrupted. </p><p>"Because what?" Nate questioned. </p><p>"-- to figure out a way around this, all right. Maybe take my shot." Eliot said when Nate cut in. </p><p>"Because you're protecting him? Is that what you--?" Nate questioned. </p><p>"Because we were trying to protect you!" Kaira yelled, getting emotional. </p><p> </p><p>"All right, last time I checked, that's our job." Eliot said, grabbing Kaira's hand. </p><p>Nate scoffed. </p><p>"Look. We can handle Moreau." Nate said. </p><p>"We're out of our league, Nate. Every one of Moreau's men has innocent blood on their hands. Every one of them... every one of them... are worse than me." Eliot said. </p><p>Kaira squeezed Eliot's hand, knowing what she had to do. </p><p>"And me." Kaira said regretfully. </p><p>"You think you know what we've done? The worst thing I ever did in my entire life... I did for Damien Moreau. And I... I'll never be clean of that." Eliot said, still holding back. </p><p>"And the worst thing that ever happened to me happened on Moreau's watch." Kaira confessed, knowing Eliot couldn't be alone in this. </p><p>"What did you do? What happened?" Parker asked the couple. </p><p>"Don't ask me that, Parker." Eliot said defensively. </p><p>He looked at the thief, and the thief looked at Eliot and Kaira. </p><p>"Because if you ask me, I'm gonna tell you. So please... don't ask me." Eliot said, his emotions high. </p><p>"Parker, I can't tell you what happened to me. I won't be the same if I say it." Kaira all but begged Parker. </p><p>Parker nodded her head at Eliot and Kaira, telling them that it was okay. </p><p>"Look, we all have a past. You both don't have to tell us anything. But we've learned the hard way we've got to be straight with each other." Sophie said. </p><p>Kaira exhaled the breath she unknowingly held in, relieved that the team forgave her. The team all looked at each other, saying that whatever happened in Kaira and Eliot's past can remain hidden for now. Nate wasn't too pleased, crossing his arms. Hardison nodded to Sophie, and she gave him the tablet. Nate looked at Eliot and Kaira. They shook their heads, saying they were good for the moment. </p><p>"So, you said that, uh, Moreau is going to give you details on the auction tomorrow. Why tomorrow?" Nate asked. </p><p>"Because he wants us to do something for him first." Eliot said. </p><p>"I bet he does. What?" Nate asked.</p><p> Eliot and Kaira looked at each other, knowing they weren't going to like what was going to be said. </p><p>"Moreau wants us to kill Atherton." Kaira revealed. </p><p>The team looked at the couple. </p><p>"Kill Atherton?" Sophie stumbled a bit. </p><p> </p><p>"You can't, you're not those people anymore." Sophie said. </p><p>Eliot, Kaira, and Nate agreed to the plan. Hardison put his hand on his mouth, shocked at what he was seeing. </p><p>"Moreau doesn't know that. He doesn't know about me and Eliot's relationship. He doesn't know that Eliot is my kryptonite." Kaira also revealed. </p><p>Nate thought a second. </p><p>"They might have to be. To get us in." Nate said. </p><p>"So we can buy a bomb." Hardison said, removing his hand. </p><p>"What?" Nate turned to the hacker. </p><p>"Ram's Horn. It's a bomb. A very big bomb." Hardison revealed. </p><p>Nate grabbed the tablet as the team looked at each other and got up and walked away. </p><p>"It's a bomb?" Nate asked Hardison. </p><p>"Yeah. Yasmin's battery goes right there." Hardison pointed to the spot on the tablet. </p><p>"Battry? It's an electrical bomb?" Sophie questioned Hardison. </p><p>"It's an EMP bomb -- electromagnetic pulse. I recognized it cause I built something just like it." Hardison said. </p><p>Kaira thought back to when the team took on Duke Penzer and the EMP gun that he had installed in Eliot's car. </p><p>"The EMP gun?" Kaira guessed. </p><p>"Like that, just jacked up by a factor of a million. Fries everything electronic within the blast radius. Which on this thing is about the size of a city." Hardison explained. </p><p>"Doesn't sound so bad." Parker said, trying to be hopeful. </p><p>Kaira cut in front of Parker and faced her, walking backward. </p><p>"Parker, if that thing goes off, all computers in hospitals, banks, cars, hell planes in the sky, a bunch of people will either die or get hurt badly." Kaira said, not sugar-coating the stakes. </p><p>"Oh." Parker said, realizing how bad it was. </p><p>"Yeah." Hardison confirmed what Kaira said. </p><p>"Okay. Now, Atherton is gonna give this to Moreau. And Moreau is gonna auction it off to the highest bidder." Nate said, stopping the team and turning to face them. </p><p>"Terrorists, criminal gangs." Sophie said. </p><p>"So what do we do? Call the Feds, show them the plans that we stole from the Department of Defence, and tell them that some dude with protection from on high is maybe selling it this week?" Hardison questioned. </p><p>"No, no, no. No, what we do is stick to the plan. We find out where Moreau is selling this and who the buyer is and we get into that auction." Nate laid a plan. </p><p>"Only way to get the details of the auction is if Kaira and I kill Atherton." Eliot said. </p><p>"Then that's what you're gonna do." Nate said, turning around. </p><p>The team walked away and made a plan. </p><p>The next day, Eliot and Kaira met up with Chapman and drove to Atherton's house. Kaira was in the back, Chapman was driving, and Eliot was shotgun. </p><p>"D.C's got a lot of traffic cams. Tell me about the car." Eliot said. </p><p>"Stolen in Virginia. After this we load it on a freighter and it gets dumped into the Atlantic. Gun's in there." Chapman said, nodding to the glovebox. </p><p>Eliot opened the glove box and grabbed the gun and looked at it. </p><p>"No doubt the serial numbers been shaved off and will get dumped along with the car." Kaira pointed out, knowing the drill. </p><p>"You know how Moreau does things." Chapman said. </p><p>"Yeah, well I don't really like guns, so." Eliot said, ejecting the round in the chamber and the magazine, putting it back in the glovebox. </p><p>"Moreau said--" Chapman said when Eliot cut him off. </p><p>"What'd he say? Tell me what he said. Tell me one more time what he said. He might be used to him holding your hand, but he's never had a problem with the way I work." Eliot said to Chapman. </p><p>"You really want to tell Moreau that you wouldn't let Eliot do the job because he didn't use a gun?" Kaira said to Chapman, in between the boys. </p><p>"I had heard you'd gotten soft." Chapman said, looking at Eliot, then Kaira. </p><p>He then looked at Athertons house across the street, which Atherton was leaving. </p><p>"We've been watching Atherton for weeks. Out at 6:35 a.m sharp, takes the same route to work." Chapman said. </p><p>Just then a young girl ran to Atherton, clearly his daughter. Kaira hid the panic inside well. </p><p>"I wanted to extinguish the whole family. Like we usually do. Moreau said we should wait." Chapman said. </p><p>He looked at Eliot, signaling for him to go. Eliot got out and went around the back of the car. Chapman started following Atherton.</p><p>
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      <span class="u">TW: Sexual Assult</span>
    </em>
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</p><p>"So, Kaira." Chapman said, looking at the review mirror at Kaira. </p><p>"What, Chapman?" Kaira asked point-blank. </p><p>"What, don't want to talk about the old times while your partner is busy?" Chapman questioned Kaira, a smug smile on his face.</p><p>"No, Chapman, I want to get the job done and move on." Kaira snipped. </p><p>"Really? Well, we could get drinks tonight, for old times sake." Chapman suggested a smug look still on his face. </p><p>"Why? So you can get me drunk, get me in your room, and take my clothes off as I come to? What, didn't you learn your lesson last time?" Kaira taunted Chapman. </p><p>"I've still got the scars, bitch." Chapman muttered, knowing damn well how they got there. </p><p>"Damn right, asshole." Kaira muttered, sitting back in her seat.</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>
      <span class="u">End of TW</span>
    </em>
  </b>
</p><p>Chapman pulled up to the red light as Atherton changed lanes. Chapman stopped next to him. Chapman honked the horn. </p><p>"Looks like you've got a flat back there." Chapman told Atherton. </p><p>Atherton looked back but saw nothing. Just then Eliot came from the back seat and twisted Atherton's neck, killing him. Kaira remained stone-faced still as Eliot got out and got in the car. </p><p>"Go over 35 and I'll kill you." Eliot warned Chapman. </p><p>He drove away. </p><p>Nate acted as a coroner, wheeling in Atherton's body. He went into the autopsy room where Hardison met him and unzipped the body bag. Atherton sat up.</p><p> "Ah, you're doing good, General." Nate said. </p><p>"I can't believe Moreau wanted to have me killed." Atherton said, still getting his breath. </p><p>Nate unzipped another body bag. </p><p>"Well, you've been doing business with Moreau for years, you know what he is." Nate lifted the top of the bag. </p><p>"There's a perfectly good version of this plan where we let you get killed." Nate said. </p><p>Atherton was tossed a white lab coat. </p><p>"Hey, it's your second chance, don't waste it." Hardison said. </p><p>Nate looked at the body Hardison got to pass off as Atherton. </p><p>"What were you thinking? I mean, this guy, he's too tall. I mean, look, there's the whole--" Nate said. </p><p>"What was I thinking, you asked for a white male John Doe, you got a white male John Doe. This ain't the Gap." Hardison argued. </p><p>"Yeah, but I mean, we're in trouble if they move the zipper past here, because this guy, I mean, he -- he was stabbed." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"You know what? My bad. Next time Imma spackle up the knife wound, maybe do his makeup, brush his teeth a little. Hello!" Hardison argued as he came around to meet with a white lab-coated Atherton as Nate couldn't get a word in. </p><p>"They threw me in a pool, man!" Hardison yelled. </p><p>A little bit later, Sophie went in and "identified" Athertons body, pretending to be Mrs. Atherton. Sophie played the grieving widow well and met with Nate outside with Atherton's belongings, which included his badge. Sophie was still balling as she met with Nate. </p><p>"Okay, okay, enough, enough. Now you got Atherton's I.D, right." Nate asked Sophie, who took off her wig. </p><p>She hummed to confirm. </p><p>"Okay, get Hardison and Parker, use the I.D to go steal the bomb and bring it to the auction. We get Moreau in the same room with the bomb, they'll get him for treason." Nate said, walking down the hall with Sophie. </p><p>"So instead of say, us going down for treason, huh?" Sophie said. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira got word from Moreau that they had a seat at the auction and that the buy-in was two million dollars. Moreau also said that he was going to text them the address and to be there in an hour. Nate, Kaira, and Eliot drove to the warehouse Moreau told them to go. </p><p>Meanwhile, Hardison pretended to be a scientist and used Atherton's I.D to get upstairs. Sophie was leading him from the parking lot. Hardison switched the I.D with Bixby, which gave him the freedom to go upstairs with Parker. Hardison used the I.D to unlock the door. Parker joined him. </p><p>"Hey." Parker said. </p><p>They walked in and started looking around. </p><p>"Okay, file KTA3506." Parker said as they continued walking in the room of various gadgets and such. </p><p>They found where the bomb was supposed to be, but it was just a mess of extension cords. </p><p>"Here." Parker said, looking at the spot. </p><p>"The bomb's gone." Hardison said. </p><p>Just then an alarm triggered. </p><p>"Nate. Nate something's wrong! The bomb is not here!" Hardison said. </p><p>Nate, Kaira, and Eliot were walking into the warehouse when they heard the commotion. </p><p>"Copy that." Nate said. </p><p>"Chapman said Moreau was going to load the car on a ship and dump it out to sea. He's got an international buyer." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"Docks. Guys watch for a secure vehicle heading toward the waterfront." Nate said as they kept walking. </p><p>The stuff in the warehouse was mostly paper products, and Kaira got a bad feeling. </p><p>"Why would you hold an auction at a warehouse?" Kaira sked. </p><p>"Well, you wouldn't." Nate said. </p><p>Nate stopped and turned to his right. He saw the Italian tied and gagged to chair, dressed in a black dress and slumped in the chair, like she was out. They quietly walked up to her and Nate spun the chair to face him. Just then, chains were heard and a door closed. This was not good at all. </p><p>Meanwhile, Sophie was driving Parker and Hardison away from the building. </p><p>"Nate. Nate I got a lead on the Ram's Horn. Yasmin's battery had a messy EM signal that I can track." Hardison said as Parker was getting tossed around like a rag doll in the backseat. </p><p>"Who taught you how to drive?" Parker asked Sophie. </p><p>"Taxi driver in Istanbul." Sophie said. </p><p>"I like it." Parker said. </p><p>Back at the warehouse, Eliot was keeping watch as Nate gently tapped on the Italian's cheek, speaking quietly in Italian for her to wake up. Kaira pulled out her knife and went to take off the duct tape as the Italian woke up. </p><p>"You again." The Italian said, still groggy. </p><p>"Hey, what happened?" Nate asked the Italian. </p><p>"I was undercover with Moreau, and even he had men even in my organization." The Italian said as Kaira cut the tape off and gently peeled it off. </p><p>"They sold me out." The Italian said, sitting up and rubbing her wrist. </p><p>"So now we have to rescue you." Nate whispered. </p><p>The Italian chuckled. </p><p>"That's why I made you hate me." The Italian said. </p><p>"Oh, to make me work on my own, huh?" Nate whispered. </p><p>"It means my plan worked." The Italian said. </p><p>"Smartass." Nate said. </p><p>The Italian chuckled again. </p><p>"Nate, sweetheart, we gotta go." Eliot warned as he walked back. </p><p>Nate put the Italians arm around his neck, and Kaira did the same to help her walk as Kaira heard the faint sound of Moreau's guys. </p><p>Back on the trail of the bomb, Hardison was still tracking it as they went to where the bomb was, but it wasn't. </p><p>"The bomb is supposed to be right here. This doesn't make sense." Hardison said. </p><p>That's when they heard a train horn and the train signal go up. A train of decent length drove by. "This is gonna be a little tricky." Sophie said, realizing the bomb was on the train. </p><p>"We got to get on that freight car." Hardison said. </p><p>"I have an idea." Parker spouted. </p><p>"Am I gonna hate it?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"No, but he is." Parker said, causing Hardison to turn to face her. </p><p>Back at the warehouse, Nate, the Italian, Eliot, and Kaira were in cover behind some pallets of paper when the Italian's phone went off. </p><p>"I got it." Eliot said, grabbing the phone. </p><p>Kaira went up beside him. </p><p>"Moreau." Eliot growled. </p><p>"For what it's worth, she didn't talk. So I sent some friends to continue the conversation." Moreau said over the phone. </p><p>"Then we'll see you soon." Eliot threatened. </p><p>"By the way, the white hat really doesn't suit you, but I love the hair." Moreau said. </p><p>Eliot hung up and faced Nate and the Italian. </p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, you in trouble?" Nate asked the couple. </p><p>"Oh yeah." Eliot said, a sure look on his face. </p><p>Kaira shook her head to confirm. Eliot had them follow him behind cover. </p><p>Back on the bomb trail, Parker and Hardison were standing at a bridge, waiting for the train. </p><p>In the warehouse, the gang rounded a corner and hugged the wall. A goon came around the corner, so Eliot took him out, cracking his neck. Kaira and Eliot looked around the corner and saw Moreau's goons cornering them, their guns pointed at the group. </p><p>On the bomb trail, Parker and Hardison finally saw the train arrive. They climbed up on the railing. </p><p>At the warehouse, Eliot and Kaira knew they were trapped. </p><p>They got back behind cover. </p><p>"So we just have to get to that door." Nate said gesturing to the door right ahead of them, making it sound easier than it was. </p><p>"That's a kill box. There's too much space between here and there." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>Nate, Kaira, and the Italian tried to think of a plan. </p><p>"Are you sure you can actually take down Moreau?" Eliot asked the Italian. </p><p>"Absolutely." The Italian nodded her head yes, though unsure. </p><p>Eliot looked down at the gun on the ground, causing the others to see it. Eliot picked it up and took off his jacket. Kaira grabbed the gun she had hidden in her pants and made sure it was loaded. Eliot looked at Kaira, worried. </p><p>"I took it from the glovebox when Chapman wasn't looking. Insurance policy." Kaira said. </p><p>"Kaira, I can't ask you to do this." Eliot whispered. </p><p>"You don't have to ask me, Eliot. I'm your wife. We're in this together, always. I can't let you do this on your own." Kaira argued. </p><p>"Kaira, please. Go." Eliot begged Kaira. </p><p>"No!" Kaira whispered loudly and definite. </p><p>"Eliot, I vowed that I was always gonna watch your back and protect you. Please. Let me honor that." Kaira said, begging Eliot. </p><p>"You sure?" Eliot asked, knowing what was about to happen. </p><p>"Positive." Kaira said, sure of herself. </p><p>Kaira nodded, signaling she was ready. </p><p>"Get her out of here." Eliot said to Nate, referring to the Italian. </p><p>He and Kaira were like a well-oiled machine, coming out of cover and firing at Moreau's goons, who of course, fired back. They took cover behind a stack of cardboard boxes as the room lit up with gunfire. Kaira saw Nate and the Italian leave. The bullets all of a sudden stopped. </p><p>At the train, Parker and Hardison jumped onto the train, screaming and yelling as they fell. They jumped across the train cars to get to the right one. </p><p>Eliot and Kaira reloaded their weapons and nodded again, signaling to go. Eliot and Kaira once again fired at the goons, shooting a couple in the chest. They went behind where the downed goon fell and went into cover as Moreau's goons kept shooting at them. </p><p>Parker and Hardison opened up the hatch on the train car and saw two guys. They jumped down and knocked them out, with Parker using her taser. </p><p>"Yeah!" Hardison said, glad he was still alive. </p><p>Hardison groaned in pain as he shook his hand out. </p><p>"That's why I use this." Parker said, still holding her taser. </p><p>They walked up to the bomb. Thick metal wires were holding it to the floor. </p><p>"Okay, this thing's bolted to the ground for transportation." Hardison pointed out. </p><p>"Yeah. So much for stealing it." Parker said. </p><p>Hardison analyzed the bomb, making a plan. </p><p>"Parker, that access panel, can you get that open?" Hardison asked Parker. </p><p>"You got an idea?" Parker asked Hardison. </p><p>"Yeah." Hardison said. </p><p>"Am I gonna hate it?" Parker asked. </p><p>"No. But I am." Hardison said. </p><p>Back at the warehouse, the hitter couple was still taking fire. Eliot crawled to grab the other gun, and Kaira grabbed the ammo as she realized the gun she took and the ammo was empty. Eliot handed the gun to her. He stood up and fired at Moreaus goons. Kaira saw a goon coming from the side, so she took care of it. She ran over and grabbed his gun and ammo and came back. Eliot and Kaira looked at each other. They gave the signal and ran back across the kill box, taking out more goons as Eliot and Kaira dove into the boxes. Eliot unloaded a magazine into the aviation-grade lubricant tubs, spreading it all over the floor as Kaira covered him. He realized he was out a growled as he got into cover, covering Kaira with his body. </p><p>At the train car, Hardison snipped a wire. </p><p>"What are you doing?" Parker asked Hardison, who was deep in thought. </p><p>"Yasmin's battery is one of a kind. Now, if I do this right, I'll overload the batteries, they'll explode, and this thing is worthless." Hardison said, cutting wires. </p><p>"And if you do it wrong?" Parker questioned.</p><p>"The bomb triggers a giant EMP pulse, Washington D.C is fried, and thousands die, and we go down as the biggest terrorists in American history, but we'll be dead too, so it's not really our problem." Hardison started nervous ranting. </p><p>"Well there's that." Parker said. </p><p>"There is that." Hardison said, nervous. </p><p>Back at the warehouse, Eliot pulled the dead goon down and grabbed his gun and ammo and loaded up. Kaira and Eliot didn't hear the gunfire anymore. Adrenaline was pumping through their veins. They knew what move they'd have to make next. Kaira and Eliot looked at each other. </p><p>"Eliot, you know what's next." Kaira whispered to warned Eliot. </p><p>"I know." Eliot whispered. </p><p>"If I don't make it, I want you to know that I don't blame you. Marrying you is a choice I'll never regret. I love you so much, Eliot." Kaira said, starting to get a bit emotional.</p><p>"Princess, if I don't make it, I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got you into this mess. I don't deserve you, but I'm damn grateful I have you." Eliot said, a hint of fear in his voice. </p><p>Something Kaira hadn't heard before. Eliot smiled a bit to hide his fear. </p><p>"I love you so damn much, Kaira." Eliot pulled Kaira into a hard kiss. </p><p>The fact that a gauntlet laid ahead of them and almost certain death waited ahead made the passionate kiss bittersweet. When Kaira let go, she saw something in Eliot's eye. Something that Eliot saw in Kaira's own eyes. The sheer will to survive. Kaira kept replaying the vow she made to Eliot. That they were gonna be together, through bad times and good times. Till death do them part. Kaira nodded at Eliot, who unannounced to her, was replaying a similar image. He nodded back. Both of the couples stood up and walked to the center of the gauntlet. A look in their eyes said, "I'm not going down without a fight." The goons kept their guns trained on the couple as they recocked their guns. The goons brought their guns up again. Kaira and Eliot both took a breath in. They started running as they fired again, taking out goons along the way. Then they slide, limboing as they kept sliding, taking out one goon after another. Bang! Bang! Another one down. They even slid backward! Once they reached the end, Eliot fired a single bullet into a barrel labeled "explosive". The barrel exploded, killing all the goons nearby. </p><p>On the train, Hardisn snipped the final wire. </p><p>"Now I just need an electric charge to overload the batteries." Hardison said. </p><p>He thought a second. </p><p>"Your taser." Hardison said. </p><p>Parker handed Hardison her taser. Hardison stuck it inside the panel and turned it on, overloading the batteries. Hardison yelled at them to go as the bomb started whirring. Sophie was driving alongside the train when she heard the explosion. Luckily, Parker and Hardison were a train car back. </p><p>At the warehouse, Eliot and Kaira stood up, looking at the destruction that was left behind. and the fire in front of them, lighting their faces up orange and red. Kaira was still running on adrenaline. That's when they heard a gun cock, and didn't react. </p><p>"You said you didn't like guns." Chapman said. </p><p>Kaira and Eliot turned around to see Chapman was wounded, but alive, pointing a gun at them. </p><p>"We don't." Kaira said. </p><p>Both Kaira and Eliot then pointed their guns and drilled Chapman in the chest, killing him. </p><p>"Never said we coulnd't use them." Eliot said. </p><p>Chapman's body fell to the ground. Eliot and Kaira unloaded their guns and threw them to the ground. Eliot and Kaira made sure that the other wasn't hurt. Kaira just had a shoulder graze, which she didn't even notice because of the adrenaline. They hugged and kissed again, glad to still be alive and they left. </p><p>At the train, Parker and Hardison were finally able to get off as Sophie drove up to the stopped train. </p><p>"Come on, then." Sophie said, glad to see the thief and hacker were okay. </p><p>Parker went up to Hardison. </p><p>"You know what I'm in the mood for?" Parker asked, smiling some </p><p>"What?" Hardison asked, also smiling as Parker went down the steps and held onto the railing and leaned back. </p><p>"Pretzels." Parker said, happy as can be. She got in the car. Hardison took a second to process what Parker said, but he did get it and smiled, happy for getting the idea as he got in the car. Sophie drove off. Hardison went on comms and said the bomb had been disabled. </p><p>Nate then had Hardison track where Moreau was going. </p><p>"Nate, there's only one flight leaving that airfield today. The flight plan is flying to San Lorenzo. Main hanger." Hardison told Nate as Sophie raced to get to the airport. </p><p>"We're gonna have to meet you there. We're a little busy here." Sophie said, hearing the police sirens. </p><p>Hardison looked at Sophie. </p><p>"You are enjoying this?" Hardision questioned. </p><p>Sophie and Parker both had smiled on their face. </p><p>At the airport, Nate and the Italian confronted Moreau just as he was about to board his flight. </p><p>"Moreau!" Nate called to him, joining the Italian. </p><p>"Look at that. You saved the girl. Who are you?" Moreau said, all smug, taking off his sunglasses. </p><p>"You don't know." Nate said, curious. </p><p>"Not yet. Not that it matters." Moreau said, brushing it off. </p><p>"We found your bomb." Nate said. </p><p>"I have no idea what you're talking about, I never had any bomb in my possession." Moreau said. </p><p>"Well, yes, um, did you take payment yet, because right now it lies scattered in burning pieces across a quarter-mile of railroad track. And whoever bought it is sitting in a Baltimore waterfront wondering why Damien Moreau cheated them out of what 20 million, 30 million? I hope it wasn't the Koreans. Not super forgiving." Nate taunted, getting out his phone and dialing. </p><p>"Who are you?" Moreau asked again. </p><p>Nate gestrered for Moreau to wait as he put the phone to his ear. </p><p>"Yeah. Give it to him. Now" Nate said, calling Yasmin, giving her the signal to give the file to Bonanno. </p><p>He hung up the phone. </p><p>"Now I just delivered proof of your crimes to the police." Nate said, putting his phone in his jacket.</p><p>"You don't have any proof of my crimes." Moreau pointed out.</p><p>"You're right. You're right, I don't. That's right. But I'm framing you with her crimes." Nate pointed to the Italian.</p><p>She looked at Nate, realizing that Nate opened the envelope he had taken from Alexander Motto's safe. </p><p>"You did open it. You lied." The Italian realized. </p><p>"No, of course I did." Nate stumbled a bit before getting back on track. </p><p>"Anyway, five months ago she asked me to steal records of money laundering through blood diamonds. Now the CIA, the NSA, the Russians, were moving black ops money through Alexander Motto. Now, you cover your tracks perfectly. Them, not so much. Now there's enough evidence in those envelopes to take down governments. All I had to do was change the accounts in terms of where the money went to, so it went to your account." Nate revealed. </p><p>See, Nate kept the account numbers he got from Mark Vector. </p><p>"None of that is true." Moreau pointed out, getting anxious. </p><p>"Ah, who cares, true shmue. It's all, you know, I mean, can you imagine governments now they have a fall guy? You. Look, the one thing that I've learned, Moreau, over the past three years is that, uh, well the only thing more ruthless than a criminal is a politician trying to save his own ass." Nate said. </p><p>"Who are you?" Moreau asked again, this time angrier. </p><p>Nate chuckled and paced to be in front of Moreau. </p><p>"You know how it feels like you've been poked by a stick? You know over the last six months or so? I'm that stick." Nate revealed. </p><p>Just then, Eliot and Kaira burst through the hanger door and ran towards Moreau, ducking under a hanger. Moreau pulled a gun out. </p><p>"You've got one shot, Moreau!" Eliot yelled as Moreau aimed for Eliot. </p><p>He then changed aim and shot the Italian in the shoulder, causing her to go down and moan in pain. Nate turned back as Moreau got on the plane.</p><p> "No, Eliot, Kiddo, no!" Nate yelled as he held back the two pissed-off hitters.</p><p>The door on the airplane shut. </p><p>"I got other plans for him." Nate told Eliot and Kaira. </p><p>Kaira and Eliot just looked at the plane taxiing as Nate got the Italian sat up. </p><p>"Eliot, Kaira!" Nate called them over. </p><p>Eliot took off his jacket and held it to the wound as Kaira examined it and called the cops, getting an ambulance for the Italian. </p><p>It was dark by the time everyone got calmed down enough. Nate was looking at the Italian being loaded into the ambulance as Eliot and Kaira walked up to him, seeing the rest of the team arriving. </p><p>"The rest of the team--" Eliot said when Kaira cut him off. </p><p>"They don't have to know what we did." Kaira said, feeling a bit guilty and a bit pissed off. </p><p>"I don't know what you're talking about." Nate said, the secret safe with him. </p><p>Kaira smiled and mouthed "thank you" to Nate. The team walked up to the ambulance. Nate walked up beside the Italian on the gurney.</p><p>She spoke Italian, "<em>Thank you for saving my life, Mr. Ford.</em>" The Italian said. </p><p>"<em>You would have done the same for me.</em>" Nate replied in Italian. </p><p>"No." The Italian said. </p><p>"Hmm, well I'm glad he didn't shoot me." Nate said. </p><p>"You're a free man, now." The Italian said. </p><p>"Hmm, job's not done." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"The job is dead." The Italian said. </p><p>"Moreau's going to San Lorenzo. Tiny little European country with no extradition treaty. With anyone." Hardison explained. </p><p>"You couldn't touch him in your own country. How can you touch him in his?" The Italian questioned, clearly still in pain. </p><p>Nate scoffed and then told the team to walk away. </p><p>"What now?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"Now we go get him." Nate said. </p><p>"In San Lorenzo?" Kaira questioned. </p><p>"San Lorenzo." Nate said. </p><p>"Nate, what are we gonna do when we get there?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"Finish the job." Nate said. </p><p>The team all left the airport. This team was hell-bent on going after Damien Moreau. And now the team's next stop was San Lorenzo.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I had so much fun creating the story for this chapter! This is one of my favorite episodes on season 3, and I love the development for this episode! This is honestly probably my favorite chapter that I have written! I wanted to really get into the emotional aspect of what Kaira and Eliot did in the warehouse. I can't wait to show you all what I have planned for the season 3 finale! Before I do that, here is the chapterly Leverage edit!</p><p>(Language warning)<br/>https://youtu.be/lUYdsTN4W6g</p><p>I thought this edit really captures what all Eliot went through in this episode. He's the protector, and he knows it.</p><p>I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I love you all so much! Thank you all once again! So, as a thank you (And for the Hell of it), here is a special little surprise!<br/>(Mature themes and Language warning)<br/>https://youtu.be/xLXCXzbpHpE<br/>That's all I'm gonna share for now, but know that I am really grateful for each and every one of you! The next episode is gonna be just as exciting as this episode, so stay tuned! Remember to vote and share this series! Much love to you all! Stay safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0046"><h2>46. The San Lorenzo Job (3x16)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After letting Damien Moreau go, Nate reveals his plan to the team. The plan is to follow Moreau to the country of San Lorenzo. Along the way, the team discovers that he is the advisor to the current corrupt President. In order to get the President out of the office and to take down Damien Moreau for good, the team has to prop up a lovable schoolteacher as the next President.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I am back with another chapter! So, in case you are reading my MacGyver fanfiction as well, as you probably know, I am taking a break temporarily with that book so I can create the best last few chapters I can. I want to thank you all for all the support I've gotten on this book! At over 7.5k reads and 100 votes, this is by far the most successful book I've written! I'm amazed! I never thought that something that started out on a whim would lead to here! The finale of season 3 is here! Season 3 is by far my favorite season of Leverage, but 4 is close behind! I'm so excited to share what I have in mind for the finale of season 3! I'm gonna mix it up a bit, so you'll see. Let me know what you think at the end of the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaira's POV (1st Person) </p><p>I had that same damn nightmare again. I was back at that warehouse, staring down the gauntlet of Moreau's goons. The gun in my hand felt good but so wrong at the same time. I started running, firing at Moreau's goons. Bam! A goon down. Bam! Another one down. I shoot the barrel, causing it to explode. I get up, the flames around me, empowering me, yet scaring me at the same time. "I thought you didn't like guns." I hear Chapman's voice behind me. Without even thinking about it, I turn, emptying my clip into the body. When I lower the gun, I realize that it wasn't Chapman behind me. It was Eliot. The love of my life. His face showed betrayal and pain. I feel the gun drop from my hand as I run up to him, putting pressure on his wounds. I'm about to cry as Eliot gives me a little smile before he goes limp. I realize he's dead and I scream. </p><p>My scream causes me to wake up, and I start hyperventilating. I sat up, seeing Eliot wasn't there. I try to calm down, but that damn nightmare was replaying in my head. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn and see it's Eliot, shushing to calm me down. I bury myself into him and cry. Feeling his heartbeat against my skin calms me down, and I sit back up as Eliot kneels in front of me. I go to move my hair out of my face, and I feel how damp my skin was. I realize that where I slept was soaked in my sweat from how scared I was. I feel horrible, but Eliot grabbed my hands and told me it was okay. I look at him, and he helps me center myself and breathe normally, and get my heart rate down. Once I finally calmed down, I hugged Eliot. </p><p>Thank you." I whisper in his ear. </p><p>I bury my face in his chest and run my fingers through his hair.  He kisses my forehead and I feel at peace. We stay like that for a moment. I calmed down enough and I sit up. </p><p>"You want to talk about it?" Eliot asked me. </p><p>I take a breath and realize I need to tell him. </p><p>"I've been having the same dream since we left that damn warehouse. I'm staring down the gauntlet and I'm shooting and killing all of Moreau's men and the barrel explodes. Then I hear Chapman and I turn and shoot without thinking. Then I see you. I drop the gun and start screaming." I start choking up again at the memory of the nightmare. </p><p>Eliot hugged me again and I calm down. </p><p>"And the worst part was that holding that gun in my hand felt good. God, I hated that feeling." I admitted, ashamed and guilty. </p><p>"Sweetheart, we did what we had to do so we could make it out alive." Eliot comforts me. </p><p>"I know, babe. I just -- I was hoping that I would never have to do that again." I said. </p><p>Eliot just held me and he whispered, "I know." </p><p>We stayed like that for a bit. Eliot stood up and rubbed his face and I looked at him, realizing something. </p><p>"Did you have a nightmare, too?" I asked Eliot, grabbing his hand. </p><p>He looked at me. </p><p>"Yeah." Eliot admitted. </p><p>"Want to tell me about it?" I asked him. </p><p>"Mostly just replaying what happened at the warehouse in my head. Thinking about our kiss. And the thought that I could lose you." Eliot sat down next to me. </p><p>I looked at him, and I can tell Eliot was beating himself up over it. </p><p>"As long as we have each other, we'll be okay." I remind Eliot. </p><p>He smiled at me and he turned to face me. We looked at each other. I tuck my hands under his white tank top and lift it up some, enough to show his stomach as he stood up. I pepper his stomach with kisses. Eliot exhales and then he takes off his tank top. He then leans into me and kisses my lips, hard. We fall back on the bed and begin kissing as Eliot removed my top. Then our pants. When we were finished with our make-out session, Eliot and I decided we needed some time to get our minds straight. Neither of us had any idea what Nate had in mind for how we were going to take down Moreau. We spent the rest of the day cooking, then I went down to help bartend. </p><p>Later that night, Hardison had everyone gather around the bar and grabbed drinks. Hardison pulled out his phone as he found some news on Nate's frame job on Moreau. </p><p>"Damien Moreau is done." Sophie said, relieved. </p><p>"Look what we did to him. Damien Moreau: under investigation for antiquities smuggling. Moreau linked to blood diamonds. Moreau assets in Switzerland, Germany, and Bolivia seized. Last time anybody got this much press, they had a nasty video out." Hardison announced, scrolling through the news on his phone. </p><p>"What kind of video?" Parker asked. </p><p>Hardison and I both stumbled, trying to think of how to answer the question. </p><p>"I don't know. I did not watch it, that would be wrong." Hardison said. </p><p>I just shook my head no. </p><p>"Now, Moreau is sitting in San Lorenzo. A country with no extradition, his own private security, and he's gonna wait this out until it blows over. But he will be back, I guarantee you." Nate paced to get beside Sophie. </p><p>"Now, we've been in this situation before, I pushed you into it." Nate said. </p><p>"You were drunk." Parker pointed out. </p><p>Nate looked at Parker. </p><p>"Super drunk." Parker pointed out. </p><p>"Thanks, Parker. I remember that. So, I've -- I've pushed you, I've tricked you, I've lied to you. So now I'm -- I'm just gonna ask you. If any of you -- any of you say no, then it's done. We don't do it." Nate said, looking at all of us. </p><p>I already knew the question. And my answer, as always, was gonna be Hell Yes. </p><p>"Please... help me get rid of this Moreau guy for good." Nate said. </p><p>We all looked at each other, knowing our answer was yes. </p><p>"I was always in, Nathan." I smiled at Nate. </p><p>The rest of the team agreed and we went back up to the office. Hardison got a presentation ready, and Sophie, Parker, and Nate were all at the table, looking through I.Ds and passports as Eliot, who was on the phone, and I were sitting in the back. </p><p>"Damien Moreau is holed up in San Lorenzo. Now, this was a British colony up until 1969, so the official language is still English. Less than 300,000 people living in 120 square miles. The population of the capital city couldn't even fill the cheap seats at Fenway. I mean, you could've fit the entire government in this room." Hardison started his briefing. </p><p>"What's Moreau using for resources?" Sophie asked. </p><p>"He's got millions in jewelry and gold bars stacked up at his villa there. I mean, we took out his international business, but he's still could afford to sell and buy this country five times over." Hardison explained. </p><p>"I'm thinking the Spanish Turnabout." Sophie suggested the con. </p><p>"Hmm. No, he's not gonna leave the country. Turnabout pays off at an airport." Parker pointed out. </p><p>"The Peking Watch con." Sophie suggested. </p><p>"Nice." Parker complimented. </p><p>I stood up. </p><p>"Guys, we got lucky the last time we conned Moreau. We blindsided him. He can't know we're there, or that we're running on a con on him. Plus, he's gonna know all the cons. We're gonna have to do a new con." I pointed out, walking to the table. </p><p>"There are no new cons, Kaira." Sophie said. </p><p>Eliot walked over and tossed his phone to Hardison. </p><p>"Put this up on the big screen. Remember I told you Kaira and I had a friend in San Lorenzo? Make sure it's encrypted too because he's taking a big chance by talking to us." Eliot said as I joined him. </p><p>Hardison got to setting up the signal. </p><p>"Oh, so I can do my job." Hardison quipped. </p><p>"Do your job!" Eliot told Hardison, looking at him. </p><p>"I've been doing my job. For years." Hardison looked at Eliot. </p><p>I groan and get in between. </p><p>"Boys, enough. Hardison, just do it." I get them in line. </p><p>Hardison pulled up the image of me and Eliot's old friend Flores. </p><p>"General Flores. Can you please tell my team what you were saying earlier about Moreau?" Eliot said to Flores. </p><p>"I've not been General for a long time, Commanders." Flores said to me and Eliot, causing us to snicker. </p><p>"You understand with the open elections in San Lorenzo since our independence in 1969, democracy is, hard. But we were making progress. Until President Ribera. Ribera was a minor officer in our security forces. Then Damien Moreau came to our country. He bankrolled Ribera for his political career. Within a year, Ribera had bribed and murdered his way into the Presidency. Anyone who opposes him is declared an enemy of the state. They are imprisoned. And by law, their assets are seized. Their families... bankrupted." Flores explained the situation. </p><p>I feel bad. </p><p>"This is why the General is in hiding. He's your candidate running against Ribera." Eliot explained. </p><p>"General. I understand you -- you're taking quite a risk for yourself and your family by talking to us." Nate stood up and walked up to the screen.</p><p>"We -- we certainly owe you a debt." Nate said. </p><p>"No. I am the one with the debt. Spencer and his wife saved my life... twice." Flores said. </p><p>Eliot and I chuckle, and I realize Eliot and I had our wedding rings on, so that's why he knew. </p><p>"Once. And a half." Eliot said. </p><p>"How do you half save someones life?" Parker asked. </p><p>"Because Eliot and I were the ones who were sent to kill him. So, that's a half." I explained, smiling at myself at the memory. </p><p>"That actually makes sense." Hardison said. </p><p>Just then, on Flores's end, a door was heard being broken. </p><p>"General, I--" Nate was about to say when he heard the noise. Immediately, all our expressions dropped. </p><p>"What is it?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"I don't know." Flores said. </p><p>"General, is that a secure line?" Eliot asked. </p><p>Flores wasn't able to answer, as armed men in black security gear grabbed him and started taking Flores off the screen. I could feel the heat coming off of Eliot, and I didn't blame him. </p><p>"Dammit Hardison!" I yelled, angry.</p><p>"I thought you said this thing was safe, man!" Eliot yelled at Hardison. "It was, man! They just hacked it from the other side, it's serious software like, uh--" Hardison tried to explain when a familiar voice was heard. </p><p>"Manticore?" Moreau said over the video chat. </p><p>We all looked at the screen, and my blood boils. </p><p>"Thank you for destroying Duberman last year. Bankrupted his company, put his old servers on the open market. Amazing what ten million dollars and some clever tech support can do." Moreau said. </p><p>"Moreau." Nate said. </p><p>"Hey, don't blame yourselves for this. Ribera makes sure I stay safe, so I make sure he stays President. Actually, to be fair, I wouldn't have found Flores if you hadn't contacted him, so, uh, go ahead and do blame yourself." Moreau said, cocky as ever, laughing. </p><p>"You can't just kill a war hero like Flores." Eliot said. </p><p>"No, of course not. We've got UN Election Inspectors here. World media. No, he's just imprisoned until after the election. Then he'll have a car accident. You know how these things are done. Or, um, you used to. Until Kaira got her claws into you." Moreau said, mostly talking to Eliot and me.</p><p>I growl. </p><p>"<em>Puoi bruciare all'Inferno Moreau </em>(You can burn in Hell Moreau)!" I threaten in Italian. </p><p>"Sleep tight." Moreau said, then he shut off the feed. </p><p>"Dammit!" I yell, stepping away from the team, letting all my anger out. </p><p>I see Eliot walk ahead of Hardison, Parker, and Sophie, and Nate walked back behind them. </p><p>"Eliot." Nate said. </p><p>Eliot looked at him. I follow Eliot as he walked to the side, pissed. I hold his arm as I see Nate get on the phone. </p><p>"Ciao." Nate said, causing us all to look at him. </p><p>Immediately, we pick up on who he's calling. The Italian. Nate turns away, but I can still hear him. </p><p>"<em>Ho bisogno di un favore. </em>(I need to call in a favor (roughly))." Nate said. </p><p>Once he's done with his phone call, and Eliot and I had time to cool off (which may have involved some rough making out), we all left to gather our stuff. We got clothes, gear, and Hardison got his equipment ready. We flew to San Lorenzo, where Nate met up with the Italian, who gave us our I.D's and work visas. </p><p>We got situated and the next day we then drove to the Parliament building. Nate, Sophie, Hardison, and I walked in. The building had a huge lobby with granite and sandy-colored checkered tiles and was beautiful. Shame the President running the country was dirty. We got checked in and walked into the office for our potential candidate. Nate walked up to the windows, which were covered by blinds, saying no a bunch of times. </p><p>"People, no, you need the windows to be open! You need light to see the goal! You need to see the goal to win the race." Nate said as he and Hardison opened up the curtains. </p><p>"And the tv needs to be off!" I said as I turn off the TVs. </p><p>"What's on tv is usually crap anyway." I quipped as our candidate Michael Vittori came over. </p><p>"Excuse me, who are you?" Vittori asked us. </p><p>"James Drafer. Election consultant. Uh, General Flores hired me to run the last week of his campaign. The final push and all." Nate said. </p><p>"Uh, Flores is in jail." Vittori said. </p><p>"Ah, well, give me the next in line." Nate said. </p><p>"The next guy, uh..." Vittori said. </p><p>"Y-yeah your next guy in the party who can run for President." Nate said. </p><p>"He's in jail too. So is the next, uh, guy." Vittori revealed. </p><p>We played it off as we didn't already know that. </p><p>"Who are you?" Nate asked, pointing at Vittori. </p><p>"Michael Vittori." Vittori introduced himself. </p><p>"And why aren't you in jail?" I ask him, already knowing the answer. </p><p>"Because I am 30 points behind in the polls." Vittori said, putting his papers on the table. </p><p>"Why bother to arrest a loser, huh?" Vittori said. </p><p>"I'm sorry you wasted your trip." Vittori said, about to leave when Nate stopped him. </p><p>"Wasted my trip? No, no. You're perfect." Nate said. </p><p>Which was not what he said yesterday when Sophie, Hardison, and I were looking at the candidates. </p><p>Yesterday</p><p>"No, no, no, no. This guy's awful." Nate said. </p><p>"I have to agree with Nate. You know how much I hate doing that." Sophie said. </p><p>I can't help but snicker. </p><p>"Well, look, Ribera arrested anybody else who stood a chance at taking him down. Seriously, these are the other candidates, right here." Hardison pulled up the other candidates on the screen. </p><p>"Drug dealer, drug dealer, drug addict, embezzler. Embezzler, drug dealer, and drug addict. And my personal favorite." Hardison said, pulling up a video of a not-so-appropriate video. </p><p>Sophie covered her face and I groan and put my head down.</p><p> "What is that?" Sophie asked and I groan again. </p><p>"There's no secrets on the internet. When will people learn this?" Hardison said. </p><p>Back to Present</p><p>Vittori looked at us, surprised by our offer. </p><p>"You want to help me run this race?" Vittori questioned us. </p><p>"No, I don't run races. I win them." Nate said. </p><p>"Bolivia, 2002." Hardison said. </p><p>"Estonia, 2003." Sophie said. </p><p>"Republic of Malta, 2005." Hardison said. </p><p>"Do you know him now?" I ask Vittori. </p><p>"Why me?" Vittori asked. </p><p>"Why you?" Nate said. </p><p>He had Vittori sit. </p><p>"Because you are a man of the people and a leader of men. The people of San Lorenzo need you because you can bring this country into the shining future that it deserves. The People of San Lorenzo, they need you!" Nate buttered Vittori up, and it seemed to work. </p><p>"And I'm under contract." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"So let's get this started, shall we?" I said, buttering up Vittori more. </p><p>"You've heard the woman." Vittori got excited as he stood up. </p><p>"Let's get started!" Vittori ordered, excited for the idea that we gave him. </p><p>Every started chattering excitedly as Vittori left. We all gathered next to Nate.</p><p>"You sure about this?" Sophie asked. Nate exhaled. </p><p>"Let's go steal a country." Nate said the rallying cry, causing me to smile. </p><p>"I love it when he does that!" I whisper excitedly, causing the others to smile. </p><p>We make a plan for Vittori to hold a press conference. Nate, Sophie, and Hardison get the conference set up as I join Eliot and Parker to find Flores.</p><p>"Okay, hopefully, Vittori is the stall. Eliot, Kaira, did you find your friend yet?" Nate came on comms. </p><p>"Yeah." Eliot said as we walked down this basement. </p><p>"Good." Nate said.</p><p>"No. Flores isn't in a regular prison, he's in the tombs. Cells underneath the Parliament building leftover from the old colonial days." Eliot said. </p><p>"They ripped out the stairs and put in an elevator. Not even Parker can get in cause of the closed shafts. It's the only way in. And it's a kill box." I continue explaining. </p><p>"Flores, getting him out is gonna be loud and it's gonna be messy." Eliot added. </p><p>"Hey, what about this? Steam vent. Welded shut." Parker said, upset. </p><p>Eliot and I looked at her, knowing what her plan would've been. </p><p>"It's a steam vent, Parker, alright, people don't--" Eliot scolded her when Parker looked back at him. </p><p>"Normal people don't go -- you c -- they feel like -- it's -- will burn y--" Eliot just gave up as we walked to a green pipe. </p><p>"We're here." I said. </p><p>Parker looked at the map. </p><p>"The center section is 60 feet below the street." Parker said. </p><p>"You sure that's 60 feet down?" Eliot asked Parker. </p><p>She let out a high note, listening to the echo. </p><p>"Yeah, that's it. 60 feet. That pipe." Parker said, pointing to the yellow pipe next to the green pipe. </p><p>Eliot grabbed the wrench and got the pipe out and I put a phone in a zip lock bag to send down the pipe to Flores's toilet. Eliot called it. </p><p>"Hello?" Flores said over the phone and I can hear the conversation from Eliot's comm as I help Parker get ready. </p><p>"General." Eliot said, letting him know it was us. </p><p>"Always full of surprises." Flores said. </p><p>"We're working on a way to get you out of there, sir." Eliot said. </p><p>"And my people? Spencer, the rest of my cabinet. Men I have fought with, my ministers. They're down here with me. I can't leave without them." Flores said. </p><p>"Sir, we can barely find a way to get you out of there alone." Eliot said. </p><p>"These people you are with now, and your wife, would you leave any of them behind, ever?" Flores questioned Eliot. </p><p>I look at Eliot, and I see the look in his eyes. A look that tells me he wouldn't. </p><p>"I thought so. I can not take the chance they will kill these men in reprisal if you rescue me. Leave me here. No matter what." Flores said. </p><p>He hung up the phone and Parker and I walk up to Eliot. </p><p>"You okay?" Parker asked Eliot. </p><p>I wrap my arm around his arm and rub his arm, comforting my husband. </p><p>"Nate, I hope you're having a better day than we are." Eliot growled as he left. </p><p>I let go and follow him. </p><p>"Not exactly." Nate said. </p><p>Over the comms, I hear Sophie go rogue and make herself known on stage. I groan, knowing Moreau was watching and now knew we were there. This con just got more complicated. </p><p>We met back with the rest of the team once Hardison hacked into the Parliament building and was in the office, looking at the data on the polls and news sites. I was sitting next to Eliot and across from Parker. </p><p>"Hey, up ten points." Hardison said. </p><p>"Not enough." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"Nate, it's a start. People are loving Sophie." I reason. </p><p>"It's not enough." Nate said. </p><p>We start clapping as Sophie and Vittori came in. Sophie looked at Nate, not pleased, and wanted to talk. </p><p>"Eliot, Parker, Kaira, start looking at those other plans." Nate ordered us as he stood up and walked around the table. </p><p>"Those are pretty nasty." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>I looked at Eliot and lean into him. </p><p>"Babe, it's politics. Everything's nasty." I point out. </p><p>The three of us left and over the course of the rest of the week, we not only made blackmail with some false allegations with dogfighting, and we may have played with the puppy used for the newsreel, and made posters and helped Vittori with his confidence. </p><p>During the night of the debate, Sophie and I went to talk with Vittori before he went on stage. </p><p>"So, listen to the question, then pause before you answer. It shows you're thoughtful." Sophie told Vittori. </p><p>"Yes, dear, I am not made for this. This should be General Flores. He's a leader." Vittori said. </p><p>"Michael, listen to me. We've been doing this a long time. Her longer than me." I said. </p><p>I can feel Sophie's glare at me, not liking what I said. </p><p>"Anyway, I didn't always use to be this confident with people. It took me a long time to understand people. My husband, Eliot, helped. And so did she. You got this. If you need something to ground you, imagine the world you want for the people of San Lorenzo. That is why you are doing this." I remind Vittori. </p><p>I give him a smile as I leave. I watch Ribera struggle, as Eliot put nicotine under his watch which made him act like he'd been drinking. Vittori took Sophie's advice and Hardison showed me how close the polls were. </p><p>The next day was the election. We were working overtime. I not only helped send out people to vote for Vittori but helped get ready to do the next thing. That thing was helping Flores escape from jail. </p><p>"Here we go." Nate gave the signal. </p><p>"Copy that." Parker said from the basement, where she was tasked with torching the stream vent. </p><p>"Copy that." I and Eliot said, looking at the security guards, waiting for the signal. </p><p>"Age of the geek, baby." Hardison said as he got started on his laptop. </p><p>We signaled Flores to make a phone call to the news station, making people think Vittori had already won. </p><p>"Okay, guys, we're hot. Get out." Nate said. </p><p>He went silent. Eliot and I got in position to do our part of the plan. </p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, they've got Vittori." Sophie reported. </p><p>"We're out of position." I whisper into my comm. </p><p>"Fine. I'll do it myself." Sophie said. </p><p>Eliot, Flores, and I got up on the balcony, wearing the security outfits, with Flores yelling "Viva Ribera", then pretending to shoot Sophie. We tuck and left, leaving Vittori to do his part, using Sophie's death as a motivator to gather the people. See, our plan from the gecko was running an American election. See, it didn't matter if Vittori actually won, it mattered what the people were saying. And they were saying that Vittori won. Hardison sent out an email that Vittori won, and we used Sophie's death to bring the people together. And Flores also buttered up the press. </p><p>See, Parker went through the vent, and then Eliot, Hardison, and I took out the guards so we could release Flores and his men. Vittori used all we taught him and gathered the people. Nate got Ribera to step down and arrest Moreau, using Moreau's estate and assets to bribe Ribera. Needless to say, the plan worked. We built a country. </p><p>Later that night, Eliot and I went to sleep in our hotel room. I was cuddled into him, glad to be next to him. I was smiling, realizing what we had done. </p><p>"Why are you smiling?" Eliot asked me, chuckling. </p><p>"I'm proud of us. I mean, look at what we built, Eliot. We took down Moreau, and we took down a corrupt President. We stole a freaking country." I said, still amazed we pulled it off. </p><p>"Add saved a war hero to the list." Eliot said, smiling at me. </p><p>"Yes." I said. </p><p>I suddenly remembered the conversation Eliot had with Flores. </p><p>"When we first went to break Flores out, I heard the conversation you had." I said. </p><p>Eliot looked at me. </p><p>"You did?" He asked me. </p><p>"Yeah. For the record, I would never leave you or this team behind." I told home. </p><p>"I know." Eliot said. </p><p>"Well, we are married, so you're stuck with me." I quipped, feeling playful for some reason. </p><p>I hover over Eliot, getting close to his face. </p><p>"Princess, there's no one I'd rather be stuck with." He smiled at me. </p><p>He sat up and I move to allow him to get up, then we lock lips, just wanting to be together. I chuckle and run my fingers through his hair, holding him against the backboard of the bed. His hands are on my back, and there's no place I'd rather be celebrating than in bed with the man I love. </p><p>The next morning, we packed up our things and got ready to get on the plane back home. We get down the elevator and meet with Hardison, who has a big black duffle in his hand. </p><p>"What's all that?" Eliot asked Hardison. </p><p>"Knick-knacks. We just stole a country, I want souvenirs. Where's your luggage?" Hardison said. </p><p>"I don't travel with luggage. I'm gonna go get Nate." Eliot said, leaving as he saw Parker with a heavy box. </p><p>I follow Eliot as he knocked on the door. </p><p>"Jeez, what you got up in here, Parker? Moreau's gold bars?" Hardison asked Parker. </p><p>I snicker, knowing damn well that's what it was. Eliot then rammed into the door and opened it. </p><p>"Babe!" I scold him. </p><p>He looked at me. </p><p>"Public place. Don't be breaking shit." I scold him. </p><p>He scoffed as he stood in the doorway. Nate looked rough as he laid in bed, covered up. </p><p>"Woah, woah, what is it, hey!" Nate said, groggy. </p><p>"Nate! Let's go. Take off. Let's go." Eliot said as Nate groaned. </p><p>"Yeah, I just, I had a couple last, you know, drink to celebrate." Nate said, still haven't wakened up yet. </p><p>Eliot chuckled. </p><p>"I don't care man. Moreau's gone. You're a free man." Eliot said. </p><p>"Yeah." Nate said. </p><p>"Things are back to normal." Eliot said, tapping the doorframe then leaving. </p><p class="">"Just get your ass up, Nate, and get changed. And tell Sophie to get her ass up. We're leaving soon." I threaten Nate, leaving. </p><p class="">Though, when I shut the door, I swear I heard Sophie's voice. I ignore it for my own sanity and we leave San Lorenzo. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I wanted to try first person, and I hope this turned out okay! In the next chapter, I will most likely be going back to my old format. As much as I loved writing in the first person, I prefer my old format. Either way, thank you so much for reading this chapter and for all the love on this series! Now, it's time for the last season 3 chapterly Leverage edit!  </p><p>https://youtu.be/QDU9MX51cTM</p><p>What better way to finish off season 3 than an edit about the team going after Damien Moreau!</p><p>I'm so excited that we are finally done with season 3! There are some pretty interesting stories in season 4, so I'm super excited to share what I have in mind for that season! This also means we just have 2 seasons left until we are finished with this book! Not gonna lie, that's gonna be a hard chapter to write for me. But until then, we have season 4 to look forward to! I can't wait! Until then, share this story and vote! Thank you so much for the love! Stay safe!</p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0047"><h2>47. The Long Way Down Job (4x1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team is back! This time, the team's target is a notebook containing some damming evidence against a corrupt financier. The only problem is that the team is 8,000 plus feet up on a mountain and a snowstorm is brewing. And the man who had the notebook, Alan Scott, was likely murdered.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! So, here we are with season 4 already! I am so excited to start this season, and I have some cool ideas in mind for this season, so get ready! I also have a cool announcement! So, I have a new book out on Wattpad called "The Falcon, The Winter Soldier, And The Fighter" and it's based on the Marvel Disney + series "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier". I already have, as of this upload, 2 of the chapters released! So, if you're a Marvel fan, go ahead and check it out! I'm so excited to see where this book continues to go! I'm also thinking of combining and switching the POV to mix it up a bit, so comment what you think of it. Without further adieu, here is chapter 1 of season 4!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">1st POV (Kaira) </span>
</p><p>Why in the hell did I agree to this job? I was bundled up in winter gear on the back of a snowmobile with my husband driving it. Snow was falling, and it was falling steadily and a lot. We arrived at the base camp. We got off the snowmobile. I saw Nate and Eliot moved down his face covering. </p><p>"Well, this ain't Boston, is it?" Eliot said, upset. </p><p>"Nathan, why the Hell did you have us meet at the top of a goddamn mountain?" I asked him. </p><p>"Good to see you two." Nate said, walking away. </p><p>Eliot and I followed him. </p><p>"Two weeks we're supposed to lay low, Nate!" Eliot growled at Nate as we kept walking. </p><p>"Now, you two climbed in the service, right?" Nate asked us. </p><p>"Two weeks after San Lorenzo! All right, there's a reason we follow rules--" Eliot argued when Nate interrupted. </p><p>"This job has a specific window of opportunity." Nate revealed to us. </p><p>We walked into the tent. There were people walking around and didn't seem like they were interested in climbing. </p><p>"This is unexpected." I pointed out. </p><p>"Climbing's a rich man's playground. These people pay 50 grand to get choppered half way up the mountain, then climb to the peak having half a dozen guys carrying their luggage." Nate explained. </p><p>Sophie then came over. </p><p>"Pay enough, they'll carry you to the top. Literally." Sophie then looked at Nate flirtatiously. </p><p>"Hello, Nate." She said. </p><p>"Sophie." Nate said. </p><p>Hardison then came over and hugged Eliot, a little too long for his liking. </p><p>"Let go." Eliot pushed Hardison off. </p><p>"I'm just -- it's so damn cold." Hardison complained. </p><p>"I don't care man." Eliot said. </p><p>"Please set me on fire, something. I'm all shivering, and I think one of my nipples fell off--" Hardison said when I punched him. </p><p>"Man, don't tell me stuff like that!" Eliot growled at Hardison. </p><p>"Tell him what." Parker came over. </p><p>"Nothing. Hey, Girl." Hardison went to hug Parker, but she hit him. </p><p>I groaned and tuned in to what Nate was saying. </p><p>"Okay, Parker, listen. You can climb a mountain, right?" Nate asked Parker. </p><p>Parker scoffed. </p><p>"I can climb skyscrapers. You can walk up a mountain." Nate said. </p><p>"It's not the same. Are there avalanches on skyscrapers?" Eliot told Parker. </p><p>"No. But that would be so cool." Parker said. </p><p>"Just how dangerous is this gig you took without checking with us first?" Sophie asked Nate. </p><p>He stumbled, and I knew it was dangerous. Nate showed us his tablet, which had a picture of Alan Scott, our dead guy, along with some people. Nate zoomed in on the notebook. </p><p>"Okay, so. This notebook right here contains his findings on the mortgage fraud. Now, the rest of these teams, they're in a holding pattern until the blizzard clears. Parker, Eliot, Kaira, you're gonna go up now." Nate said. </p><p>"This is really, really sad, and I'm sorry, but we're gonna climb a mountain to find an executive's diary?" Sophie questioned the risk, and I didn't blame her. </p><p>"Merced Financials Services is taking 100 homes a day. That's a hundred families out on the street a day. They're either too afraid or too broke to fight this thing." Nate explained. </p><p>"I agree with Sophie. This widow doesn't need thieves for a rescue mission." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"It's not even a rescue mission, the dude is dead, Nate, it's treasure hunting." Hardison said. </p><p>"Which is like retrieval, something we're really good at." I argue as John Drexel came in, and everyone was clapping. </p><p>Nate looked at us again. </p><p>"Listen to me. She needs thieves because this is not a treasure hunt. She needs thieves because this is a race." Nate said. </p><p>We agreed to the job, and we get geared up to climb. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm nervous as hell. I hadn't done this in years. We met with Nate outside by the signs pointing to the different camps. </p><p>"All right, Hardison and I will be running things from the communications tent, which is just over here." Nate pointed to the camp. </p><p>"Yeah, see I'm officially working on a project for the U.S Meteorological Service. That means that I have access to comm relays, satellites, internet, the cell tower repeater, nobody talks to anybody on or off the mountain unless we want them to." Hardison explained as we walked to the tent. </p><p>"These guys in red." Eliot pointed out, wanting to know who they were. </p><p>"They're forest rangers. They're why we, uh, have this window of opportunity. Drexel's team has to be cleared to officially hit the trail. That'll take a couple hours." Nate explained. </p><p>"So we're unofficial?" I questioned Nate. </p><p>"Very." Nate said. </p><p>We all went into the tent. Hardison got his gear booted up. </p><p>"Guys, Mr. Scotts Parka had a locator beacon inside. Now the signal's not strong enough to reach all the way down to base camp, but with this receiver, the closer you get to him, the louder the ping. Now I'll do my best to lead you to his last know location." Hardison explained, tossing Eliot the receiver. </p><p>"What about Drexel?" Parker asked. </p><p>"That's Sophie's job. She's gonna keep Drexel off the mountain. You okay with that, Sophie?" Nate said. </p><p>"Nate, I'm at a party full of drunk millionaires far from home dizzy from lack of oxygen. It's like Grifter Christmas in here." Sophie said over comms. </p><p>Nate rubbed his hands together. </p><p>"Okay, people. Let's go steal a mountain." Nate said the rallying cry, about to leave, and I smiled. </p><p>"Again." Parker pointed out. </p><p>"What?" Nate questioned Parker. </p><p>"Again. We already stole a mountain two years ago." Parker explained. </p><p>"Well, technically, it was a mountain resort, not a mountain, but yeah." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"You were also very drunk on that one." Hardison pointed out. </p><p>"And a bastard." I pointed out.</p><p>Nate went silent, then left. We just looked at each other. I heard Drexel on Sophie's comm, talking about how he was gonna climb this mountain in memory of his friend Alan Scott, and then turned it into a company pitch. </p><p>"Wow. He is a piece of work. Nate, when are Eliot, Parker, and Kaira in play?" Sophie said. </p><p>"Any second now." Nate reported, me and Eliot walking beside him. </p><p>"Listen, you get caught up there, just call, I'll suit up." Nate said. </p><p>"Nate, you shouldn't even be up here." I told Nate. </p><p>"I'm fine." Nate said. </p><p>"We're at 8,000 feet already, Nate. Altitude sickness kicks in here, all right. You know the symptoms?" Eliot told Nate. </p><p>"Headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue." Nate explained. </p><p>"Same symptoms as alcohol withdrawal, Nathan." I pointed out. </p><p>"So what do you think it is. You think it's the booze, or do you think it's the blood boiling inside your skull?" Eliot finished my thought. </p><p>"Hey, if you two can't handle this--" Nate said. </p><p>"No, we can handle it just fine, Nate. But every second you're on this mountain, your clock is ticking. You're very good at what you do. You can't con a mountain." Eliot said, walking away. </p><p>I followed him. We got some final gear as Parker and Hardison came out of the tent, with Hardison saying he wanted to follow us up the mountain to help Parker. Parker had asked if this was gonna be a thing, and when Hardison said no, she walked away, ignoring his hug. Eliot got hit googles on and hugged Hardison. I hugged him next. We attached ropes to our waists and got ready to go. </p><p>"Let's roll." Eliot said. </p><p>We started climbing. </p><p>"What, what are you doing?" Nate asked Hardison. </p><p>"At least Eliot and Kaira gave me a hug." Hardison said. </p><p>Just then, I heard Nate ask Ms. Scott what she was doing there. The snow was falling a bit harder as Eliot, Parker, and I made some distance. </p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd Person POV (Back at base camp) </span>
</p><p>Nate, Hardison, and Karen Scott walked into the tent. </p><p>"I'm an experienced climber. I know my husband. I know the routes he would've taken." Karen argued. </p><p>"No, you're emotionally involved. It leads to bad decisions." Nate said, getting his breath. </p><p>"I'm sorry. Did you just say that? With a straight face?" Hardison asked Nate, a "seriously" tone to his voice. </p><p>"Not helpful. Not helpful at all." Nate scolded Hardison. </p><p>"Listen, Drexel, if he sees you up here, he'll figure out what we're doing and we're gonna lose the only advantage we have. All right, so, you can watch, and listen to us, but you have to trust us, and just let us do what we do." Nate handed Karen an earbud and sat her down.</p><p>"Okay, where are they?" Nate asked Hardison. </p><p>Hardison pulled up the comms GPS on the screen in front of him. </p><p>"They're pretty far up already." Hardison reported. </p><p>Karen stood up and saw how fast the trio was going. </p><p>"They're gonna burn out at that pace." Karen said. </p><p>"We don't need them to get to actually reach the peak, we need them to get where we think your husband is. If they need to, they can take pictures of the notebook and send it to us." Nate explained. </p><p>"No, they can't. You see this line right here? Anything above that point, the signal's too weak for data. It's voice only." Hardison explained. </p><p>"Great. So we have to physically bring the notebook down?" Nate questioned Hardison. </p><p>"Yes, indeed." Hardison said. </p><p>"Wonderful." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie was walking around the tent. </p><p>"Looks like Drexel's team is getting ready. How hard do you want me to run them?" Sophie asked Nate. </p><p>"Sophie, listen, it's a straight stall, nothing fancy." Nate said, taking a drink of water.</p><p>"Well, I need to know the teams if I'm gonna run the game." Sophie said, pacing around, cueing up Hardison. </p><p>"I got you, Soph. Anybody goes up that mountain, they have to register with Park Service. So--" Hardison said, pulling up the names. </p><p>"No, no, no. Not names and numbers. Personalities, feelings. Karen, you climb, right?" Sophie said. </p><p>"Yeah." Karen said. </p><p>"Big sweaters, very cheerful." Sophie said. </p><p>"That's team Straussse. The bald one is Hans Strausse, Acquisitions and Mergers from some Giant German bank. He's very flirty." Karen explained. </p><p>Sophie got a bit flirty with Hans and was offered a shot, which she took before walking to another set of climbers. </p><p>"Japanese climbers." Sophie pointed out. </p><p>"That's Hiro Miyashta with Mikino Finance. Big investment firm. One of Drexel's main competitors. They offered Alan a job a few times." Karen explained. </p><p>Sophie introduced herself in Japanese. </p><p>"It's odd, they're usually at the Alps this time of year. Miyastha's a very serious climber." Karen said. </p><p>Hiro tried flirting with Sophie, which she managed to get out of after he grabbed her shoulders, chuckling to brush it off. </p><p>"Very serious about finding out what's inside my sweater, anyway." Sophie said. </p><p>"And the Aussies." Sophie pointed out. </p><p>"Oh, just some celebrities, rich kids of rich people, people on newspapers, stuff like that." Hardison explained. </p><p>"Tourist climbers. Drexel's friends." Karen pointed out. </p><p>Sophie lifted Drexel's phone while he was distracted by a bottle of alcohol. </p><p>"It's really just an excuse to jet around the world partying." Sophie said. </p><p>"It's one worldwide party." Karen added. </p><p>"Well then. Let's get invited. Hardison, I need a Paris phone number redirected to my phone." Sophie said. </p><p>"Got it. Number is 06-36-37-84-75." Hardison said as Sophie typed it in her phone. </p><p>"Nate. I could use your help. This plays much better in pairs." Sophie said. </p><p>"Yeah. No, no, I think that I should probably just, uh, stay here. It's easier to monitor Parker, Eliot, and Kaira. Besides, it's good that there's one face he hasn't seen." Nate said as Sophie took a selfie off to the side. </p><p>"What's she doing?" Karen asked Nate. </p><p>"She is meeting Drexel for the second time." Nate informed Karen. </p><p>Sophie put the phone back and stood behind Drexel. She tapped his shoulder a couple of times, causing him to turn around.  She then gave him a slap. She cursed, at least the author thinks so because she doesn't speak French, at him and then walked away. </p><p>"Ah, excuse me." Drexel said, causing Sophie to stop and face him. </p><p>"Do you know who I am?" Drexel said, not happy he was slapped. </p><p>"Oi. But do you know who I am? No." Sophie said, sassy a bit in her French accent. </p><p>"But we've never met." Drexel said. Sophie chuckled. </p><p>"Ramon, Mount Reiner, we have the odd toddies, "oh, Nina, come to my tent. I'll warm you up." No? You don't call me." Sophie said, walking away again. </p><p>"I don't have your number." Drexel said. </p><p>Sophie chuckled again. </p><p>"Ramon. "Oh, Nina, you type it for me, I'm too drunk to touch the little buttons." Sophie said, miming texting. </p><p>Drexel got out his phone. He saw the selfie Sophie took and held the phone up to her. </p><p>"Well, I guess we have met before." Drexel said, pleased with himself as he put his phone away. </p><p>"Yes, we have met." Sophie said, walking away. </p><p>"Get me a drink, I'll help you remember." Sophie told Drexel, getting close to his face. </p><p>"She's kind of scary." Karen said, not sure what to make of Sophie's grifting skills. </p><p>"You have no idea." Nate said. </p><p>
  <span class="u">1st Person POV (Kaira)</span>
</p><p>Eliot, Parker, and I were still climbing up the mountain. I could hardly see where we were going, as the storm had gotten worse, and I was freezing. We came across a tent. </p><p>"Coming up on an orange tent, supplies. Could this be Alan Scott's tent?" Eliot asked. </p><p>"No, man. That's a high camp. They're like little supply depots scattered all the way up the mountain. First aid, oxygen, water, that sort of thing." Hardison came over comms. </p><p>"All right, Nate. Alan Scott's last known communication was at North 62 degrees 6 minutes, 56 seconds, and West 150 degrees, 44 minutes, and 34 seconds." Hardison reported as Parker and I searched the tent. </p><p>"Okay, that high camp elevation is 10,000 feet. Which means that Eliot, Parker, and Kaira should be getting a ping off of his beacon, but it's, it's just nothing. I'm thinking I need to send another transmitter up there to help triangulate Scott's beacon." Hardison said. </p><p>"No, no, we can't send another climber on the ridge. No." Nate said. </p><p>"You sure about that?" Eliot came over comms and I walked over, seeing nothing in the tent. </p><p>"What do you mean?" Nate asked over comms. </p><p>I see Eliot looking at a shoeprint in the snow. </p><p>"Cause I got a footprint. Russian. Spetznaz." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>Parker and I just looked at him. </p><p>"Seriously?" Parker said. </p><p>"Why am I not surprised." I muttered. </p><p>"It's a very distinctive footprint." Eliot explained as we kept walking. </p><p>"Drexel had the same idea we had. Um, Eliot, Parker, Kaira, be careful. You got some competition up there." Nate warned us as we kept climbing. </p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd Person POV (base camp)</span>
</p><p>"Sophie, what's Drexel's status?" Nate asked Sophie. </p><p>"All good. Going nowhere." Sophie said. </p><p>Sophie saw Drexel texting and asked him who he was texting. Drexel said he didn't have much time off but said he'd go to Paris more often. Hardison was able to track the text. </p><p>"A text is great. The text he sent that other guy is gonna have to transfer here through my cell repeater. Which means, I can find our Russian. Who is not on the mountain." Hardison said, realizing he misjudged who Drexel texted. </p><p>"What do you mean?" Nate asked him. </p><p>"This doesn't make any sense. The text he just sent went to a cell phone at the base camp tent." Hardison reported, tracing the text. Hiro Miyashta's face came up. </p><p>"Miyashta. He sent a text to his competitor." Nate said. </p><p>Sophie saw Drexel and Miyashta looking at each other. </p><p>"Any suggestions, Nate?" Sophie asked. </p><p>Nate was thinking when he noticed Karen wasn't next to him, as he thought. </p><p>"No, I have a more pressing problem at the moment." Nate said. </p><p>He looked out the tent, and Hardison also realized Karen was gone, and the receiver was gone too. Nate left to get on some climbing gear to track Karen down. Hardison met him outside. </p><p>"You're right. She took the other receiver. What are you doing?" Hardison said. </p><p>"I'm going after her. You got a signal?" Nate asked, already walking. </p><p>"Yeah. Yeah, she took the same route Eliot, Parker, and Kaira took.  She's gonna swing north to triangulate Scott's signal. And, and -- wait, wait, are you crazy?! Come on, man, she's an experienced climber. Are you kidding me?" Hardison stopped Nate. </p><p>"Here's-Here's what I want you to do. I want ya to get financials on Miyashta's company, cross-reference them with the work you've done on Drexel's. And, and give it all to Sophie. All right, Sophie, this is on you. You got to figure out what he's up to." Nate ordered. </p><p>Sophie was at the side of the tent, nervous for Nate. </p><p>"Do not do this. As if you ever listen to me." Sophie said, realizing there was no point in telling Nate no. </p><p>Nate walked away and Hardison took a couple of steps. </p><p>"He's gonna die. Eliot, Parker, Kaira, I need y'all to double back and stop him. Can you?" Hardison said. </p><p>
  <span class="u">1st POV (Kaira)</span>
</p><p>We were trudging through probably a foot of snow. My face is burning, and I'm pissed at the turn of events. </p><p>"We're a little busy here, Hardison." Eliot said. </p><p>"Sorry." I said, trying to breathe slowly to conserve oxygen. </p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd POV (Base Camp)</span>
</p><p>"Well there's definitely something going on. What'd you find out in the accounts?" Sophie asked Hardison, still in the base camp tent. </p><p>"Been some big stock transfers like Miyashta. See, this is something you would see before a-a big corporate takeover, but that's impossible. I mean, there've been no rumors about a buyout this big." Hardison reported. </p><p>"Drexel did say he was gonna have a lot more spare time. Check the climber's registration. Find out which of Miyashta's guys are on the mountain for the first time." Sophie said. </p><p>Hardison did. </p><p>"Most of them. They don't have a lot of climbing experience, either." Hardison said. </p><p>"That's because they're not climbers. They're lawyers. This is a buyout." Sophie realized. </p><p>She quickly made a plan, taking off her fur coat and changing jackets. </p><p>"All right, this is perfect. Mountain camps. There's no reporters, there are no other employees. This is the perfect place for secret negotiations. Drexel is... he's selling the company." Sophie said, putting on another coat and grabbing something from a coat. </p><p>"If he sells the company, and then all those mortgage records disappear to a Japanese corporation where the privacy laws are tighter than the Swiss." Hardison pointed out. </p><p>Sophie tucked her hair into the hood. </p><p>"Yeah. Drexel gets paid and away scot-free. Hardison, you shut down his phone. He cannot check his stock, or his messages for this to work. I'm changing the game." Sophie ordered Hardison, who did what she asked. </p><p>Sophie asked for some liquor from Hans, acting all upset, now putting on a German facade. </p><p>"You are not happy." Hans pointed out to Sophie. </p><p>"Damn right, I'm not. My company came this close to snapping up Merced Financials, and then Miyashta swoops in like a white knight. The second they announce it, the stocks gonna go through the roof, and we'll never be able to buy him up. That's six months of my life just wasted!" Sophie took a breath. </p><p>"Sorry. I didn't even catch your name." Sophie said. </p><p>"Hans. I'm, uh... just a climber." Hans said before talking to his group behind him. </p><p>Sophie took her hood down and glasses. </p><p>"Nate." She just heard him breathing heavy. </p><p>Nate collapsed. </p><p>"Nate!" Sophie repeated. </p><p>She didn't hear anything from any of the team, making her anxious. </p><p>"Somebody say something." Sophie said. </p><p>Nate got some oxygen and breathed it in.</p><p>"Where is she, Hardison?" Nate asked, his voice really strained. </p><p>"She is right ahead of you. Now, see, her receiver is working. In between her and Parker's receiver, I'm getting a fix on Alan Scott's location. I mean, she's got to know she's high enough, why does she keep climbing?" Hardison said, pulling up the data he needed. </p><p>"Because she has to! We better find her or you're gonna be hauling two bodies down this mountain instead of one." Nate said, still climbing. </p><p>
  <span class="u">1st Person POV (Kaira)</span>
</p><p>Eliot, Parker, and I were still climbing, and we were getting close to where the coordinates were. </p><p>"Okay, look, thanks to Ms. Scott, I have a fix on her husband. But the location is way, way off from the location that Drexel gave the rescue crews. Does anyone else think that something really bad went down that night?" Hardison said. </p><p>I got anxious. We stopped and Eliot and I removed our goggles. </p><p>"Here. Are you kidding me, there's nothing here!" Eliot yelled at Hardison. </p><p>"Yes, no. It's gotta be there. It's the only location for the body to logically be." Hardison argued. "Well, you're wrong." Eliot argued. </p><p>"No, I'm telling you, you are standing right on top of it." Hardison argued. </p><p>"And I'm telling you that how can we be here if here itsn't here! All right, we are literally standing in a field of snow!" Eliot yelled. </p><p>I then heard the sound of ice cracking. </p><p>"Crevass!" We yelled as we dropped. </p><p>Then it went dark as we hit the ground.</p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd Person POV (Base camp)</span>
</p><p>"Eliot, Parker, Kaira. Parker!" Hardison called through the comms, trying not to panic. </p><p>Then he got that he lost the signal for their comms. </p><p>"Nate. Nate, man we got a problem. Nate we--" Hardison tried rebooting the comms, but then lost Nate and Karen's as well. </p><p>"Nate." Hardison said. </p><p>Hardison tried again rebooting the comms. </p><p>"Come on, Nate, answer me, man. Come on, I need you to answer me. Nate. Nate!" Hardison yelled into the comms. </p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd Person POV (Nate and Karen)</span>
</p><p>Nate woke up in a tent, Karen at the foot of the bed, coughing. </p><p>"I woke up. Dragged you down here to the high camp." Karen explained. </p><p>Nate sat up. </p><p>"What happened?" Nate asked, seeing Karen's leg in a splint. </p><p>"I twisted it. Kept going on it, hyperventilated, and then you found me." Karen explained. </p><p>"I would've died out there." Karen said. </p><p>"No, no, no. He would not have wanted that." Nate said, moving his legs to stretch. </p><p>"I was so--" Karen tried to find the words, but couldn't. </p><p>"Angry?" Nate said. </p><p>"He never got to say goodbye. And that... isn't fair." Karen said, almost crying. </p><p>"It's never fair. Listen to me, I know. I've lost someone, you don't get fair. You don't get closure or goodbye. So you take the anger. And I learned that the anger feels pretty good, better than the grief. I know that the anger is the thing that gets me up, gets me going, in the morning. But, you know, you have to be a little bit careful because if you let yourself be driven by the anger, it will blind you and you will get into trouble over and over again just so you can... feel. So you can beat something." Nate comforted Karen. </p><p>"And what happens then?" Karen asked. </p><p>"Eventually, you run into something your anger can't beat." Nate said. </p><p>"Like a mountain." Karen said. </p><p>"You realize that your-- your luck has run out." Nate choked up a bit. </p><p>"And it's a long way down." Nate said. <br/><br/></p><p>
  <span class="u">1st Person POV (Kaira)</span>
</p><p>I hope up to the sound of Parker gasping and the click of her flashlight. Eliot was still out, which scared the shit out of me. I tried shaking him. </p><p>"Come on, babe, please wake up." I whispered. </p><p>Parker then put her flashlight on strobe mode, waking Eliot up. </p><p>"Stop it." Eliot growled and Parker and I chuckled. </p><p>I hugged Eliot, glad he was okay. We slowly got up. We looked around, and we realize we were a ways down into the crevas. </p><p>"Well, that could've gone a lot worse." Eliot said. </p><p>When we were moving our flashlights around, we saw a red tarp. </p><p>"Oh god." I whispered, thinking the worst. </p><p>We stood up and walked over to the tarp. We stood there, almost silently deciding who was gonna lift the tarp. Parker squeezed Eliot's arm, saying for him to go. Eliot got down on one knee and moved the tarp off, revealing the body of Alan Scott. His eyes were closed and blue, and so was part of his face and lips. Eliot stood up and I started tearing up. </p><p>"His leg's broken." Parker said. </p><p>It was very clear what happened. </p><p>"Fell through the ice, broke his leg, that was it." Eliot pointed out, staying strong for the both of us. </p><p>"It's gonna be a bear getting us out, and there's three of us. One man by himself. Never stood a chance." Eliot said. </p><p>"He died in here. Alone?" Parker said, all life devoid in her voice. </p><p>I grab Parker's arm and squeezed it, letting her know I was there. </p><p>"Couldn't find his beacon. Stone walls ate the signal, and storm sealed him in." Eliot said, grabbing Alan's notebook. </p><p>He flipped through the pages, which had all the info. </p><p>"What a way to go." I said, feeling upset. </p><p>"We got to get out of here. Inventory the equipment." Eliot said, walking back to where we fell. </p><p>"And him." Parker said. </p><p>I looked at her. </p><p>"We're getting him out too." Parker insisted. </p><p>I saw Eliot looking back at us. </p><p>"All right." Eliot said. </p><p>We started doing inventory. </p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd person POV (base camp)</span>
</p><p>Hardison was still trying to get the comms back up but to no avail. </p><p>"Nate. Eliot. Parker. Kaira." Hardison had some panic in his voice, not being able to hear his family. </p><p>He repeated their names. </p><p>"Stop it, you're driving me mad!" Sophie said quietly over comms. </p><p>"Hey, hey! I am restraining from freaking out quite admirably." Hardison snipped at Sophie. </p><p>"Just stay focused. Drexel's got to no idea his stock's going up, right?" Sophie asked Hardison, hoping to get him to focus. </p><p>"No, the German's are buying like crazy." Hardison reported. </p><p>Sophie walked back up to Hiro. </p><p>"Mr. Miyashta. Kon'nichiwa." Sophie said. </p><p>"Mr. Drexel's friend." Hiro recognized Sophie. </p><p>"Huh. Well, to be honest, I work for the London Examiner. I was just trying to get a straight answer out of him. But you know what he's like." Sophie said. </p><p>"Ah, yes." Hiro said. </p><p>"So, any comment about this--this buyout?" Sophie asked Hiro, who seemed surprised Sophie knew about it. </p><p>"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hiro tried to brush it off. </p><p>"From the Germans. Check the stock price." Sophie said, which prompted Hiro to get out his phone. </p><p>He looked at the numbers and excused himself. Sophie walked away. </p><p>"I'm running out of cons here. Where are they?" Sophie asked. </p><p><span class="u">1st Person POV (Kaira)</span> </p><p>I helped Eliot set up the rig and Parker found a phone and was going through it, playing a video that started with, "Hey pumpkin", and then she turned it off. </p><p>"Battery's okay. Cold kept it good. There's another message. Should be watch it?" Parker asked me and Eliot. </p><p>"Parker, that's for his wife." I said. </p><p>Parker put the phone in her coat and walked over. </p><p>"Okay. So how's this gonna work?" Parker asked us. </p><p>"We don't have enough time to put the screws into the ice, so I'm gonna send you up, then you're gonna belay me up, then Kaira." Eliot informed us. </p><p>"What about him?" Parker asked, nodding towards Alan. </p><p>"I'll put a rigging on him. Try to pull the body up." Eliot said. </p><p>"Alan. And he's coming with us." Parker said, insistent on getting Alan out of here. </p><p>Parker walked over to the gear as Eliot threw the rope up, making sure it was secure before sending Parker up. </p><p><span class="u">3rd Person POV (Base camp)</span> </p><p>Hardison was in the tent. </p><p>"Okay, I got a fix on and Ms. Scott. Signal's coming down the mountain. But there's still no audio yet, and--and it looks like there's a big storm coming through. And it's bouncing radio signals all over the place." Hardison informed Sophie, still trying to not freak out. </p><p>Sophie was pacing in the tent. </p><p>"Let me know the second that you hear anything." Sophie said, just then Drexel came over, and grabbed Sophie's arm. </p><p>"A word." He ordered as he walked Sophie over to the side of the tent. </p><p>"Oui?" Sophie said, putting on her French persona. </p><p>"Stop it. The Germans and the Japanese think I'm running a game on them. I can't get my office on the phone, I have no idea what's going on, but what I do know is you're in the middle of it." Drexel told Sophie. </p><p>"Check your stock price." Sophie said, dropping the act. </p><p>"I can't." Drexel said. </p><p>"Just give it a sec." Sophie smirked at Drexel. </p><p>Just then Drexel's phone went off and he looked at it. </p><p>"What the hell is going on?" Drexel asked, not liking the stock price. </p><p>"Oh dear. Miyashta's pulling out, which means the Germans are pulling out, which means your stock's gonna crash and we can take your company." Sophie said. </p><p>"Nice accent. Now who are you, and what do you want?" Drexel asked Sophie. </p><p>Nate and Karen then walked in. Drexel saw her and asked her what she was doing. He tried to brush it off, but Karen told him off. Sophie then walked up to Nate and hugged him. </p><p>"Hey, baby, oh!" Sophie said, glad to see Nate, and kissed him, throwing Nate off guard. </p><p>"I'm running The Moscow Circus Con, you're the Ivan, go." Sophie whispered and warned Nate. </p><p>"I'm kind of dying of altitude sickness here." Nate told Sophie. </p><p>"Well, do it quickly." Sophie said. Nate was still catching his breath. </p><p>
  <span class="u">1st Person POV (Kaira)</span>
</p><p>We got the rope hooked up and ready. </p><p>"All right. I go up, set up a pulley." Parker said. </p><p>"Assuming we have enough rope." I added. </p><p>"I then pull you up, then Kaira, then him." Parker went over the plan. </p><p>"We're gonna deadlift him outta here. And then carry him back down the mountain." Eliot finished the plan. </p><p>Parker looked at Alan again. </p><p>"We're burning daylight, Parker." Eliot said, rushing Parker. </p><p>"Well, then, we better hurry." Parker said, starting to climb up. </p><p>Eliot went over to Alan's body as I watched Parker climb. I heard the rope snap, then Parker fell. </p><p>"Parker!" Eliot and I both yelled. </p><p>I looked Parker over, and she seemed okay. </p><p>"You okay?" I asked her. </p><p>"I've got it." Parker said, us helping her up. </p><p>Eliot held the frayed piece of rope. </p><p>"Rope snapped. We're gonna be short. I gotta take the rigging off him we need the rope--" Eliot said, causing Parker to go off. </p><p>"No!" Parker said, grabbing Eliot. </p><p>"Parker!" Eliot yelled at Parker, pushing her off him. </p><p>"No!" Parker yelled. </p><p>"It's done!" Eliot yelled. </p><p>I grabbed Parker, but she pushed me back to, shouting no again. </p><p>"This is what we're supposed to do! We're supposed to get him back to his wife! Nate would do it, Sophie would do it, Hardison would do it. They would do the right thing. I want to do the right thing!" Parker yelled, getting all her sadness out. </p><p>My first instinct is to hug the thief, so I do, rubbing her back. Parker pushed me off and Eliot started gathering the rope. </p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd Person POV (Base camp)</span>
</p><p>Once Nate got his breath back, he played his part. </p><p>"I am not buying any of this." Drexel said. </p><p>"I don't care. I can gut your company any time I want, okay, and pick up the pieces later. Look, the widow gave me the notebook, okay. The account numbers, everything I need to prove that the majority of your mortgage assets aren't even yours. Except, of course, the worthless ones." Nate explained. </p><p>"You're bluffing." Drexel said. </p><p>"Okay. Have you heard from your Russian?" Nate asked him. </p><p>Drexel chuckled. </p><p>"What do you want?" Drexel asked. </p><p>"What I want you to do is, I just want you to wait a few hours, just stall. Because we're getting into position to profit from Miyashta's announcement." Nate whispered. </p><p>Drexel looked back, then at Sophie and Nate. </p><p>"When I get back, I want to see that notebook." Drexel said. </p><p>"Yeah." Nate brushed it off like it wasn't a big deal and three of his team were still off comms. Nate left. </p><p>
  <span class="u">1st POV (Kaira)</span>
</p><p>Of all the shit I've had to do over the years, this was probably the most heartbreaking. Mostly because of the blond-haired thief I call my sister. All Parker wanted to do was the right thing. And I did too. And how upset Parker got broke my heart. I was hoping we would've been able to drag Alan out of here and reunite him with his wife, but what was more important was that we get that notebook and phone out of the crevasse. And us. As much as it pained me to leave Alan down there, I knew it was the only choice we had left. We needed the rope, and we needed to get out alive. Parker covered up Alan after Eliot took the rope off. He shined his light towards Parker. </p><p>"Hey. It's a good thing it was us." Eliot said to Parker. </p><p>"Because we'd leave him?" Parker said. </p><p>Eliot flipped his flashlight. </p><p>"Because they would've kept trying, and they would've froze right next to him. Especially Hardison. So it's a good thing it was us. The three of us, we do things they can't. Won't." Eliot said. </p><p>"Does that make us bad?" Parker asked. </p><p>"It makes us... us. Now you can take that as a gift. Or you can take it as a curse." Eliot shined the light in Parker's face. </p><p>"But that's up to you." Eliot said. </p><p>"I pursed my lips, holding back my own emotions. </p><p>"Parker, as much as it kills me that we have to leave him down here, we have to make this call. We have to get back to the team. And I need them." I looked at Eliot, then Parker. </p><p>"I need you two. You're the most important things in my life. So if having you live costs us leaving Alan behind, I will pay it. Not because I like it, but because I won't ever pay anything with your lives." I said, letting my emotions out. </p><p>I feel both Parker and Eliot grab and squeeze my arms. Eliot got up, then Parker. I whispered, "I'm sorry." I whispered to Alan, hoping his spirit heard me. I got up, wiping my eyes. Eliot was getting the rig ready. </p><p>"Wait. I want to play that last message on his phone. Just in case he wants us to do something for him." Parker said. </p><p>I nodded my head yes. </p><p>"Fair enough." Eliot said. </p><p>Parker got out the phone and played the video. </p><p>"Attention basecamp." The video said. </p><p>We played the rest of the video and then climbed up and started walking. "Hardison!" Eliot yelled over comms. </p><p>
  <span class="u">3rd Person POV (Base camp)</span>
</p><p>Hardison started freaking out. </p><p>"Yeah, yes, yes, yes! Wait a minute, Parker, Kaira, you there?" Hardison asked, way too excited, and relieved. </p><p>"Talking uses oxygen." Parker muttered out as the trio kept walking. </p><p>"We're okay." I breathed out. </p><p>"Look, y'all, I just -- I just want to say that, y'all my peoples, and I--" Hardison said, relieved to hear them again, wiping a tear. </p><p>"Hardison." Eliot said, trying to get Hardison on track. </p><p>"You know, I was so scared." Hardison said, about to cry again. </p><p>"Hardison, shut up! Listen to this." Eliot said. </p><p>They played the video. </p><p>Back in the base camp tent, Sophie went to grab a bottle of champagne when Nate grabbed it and put it back. </p><p>"Let me get this straight. When I said-- when I said, "simple stall", you heard multinational, high finance, feeding frenzy, right?" Nate questioned Sophie. </p><p>"Tomato, Tomatoe." Sophie brushed it off. </p><p>"Nate. I've got Eliot, Parker, and Kaira coming down the mountain, and I got something you need to hear." Hardison said. Nate put his hood up. </p><p>"Go check on Karen." Nate said. </p><p>Nate left the tent. </p><p>"Can you? Well, tell them to try again when they get to high camp." Nate said over comms. </p><p>Just then, Nate was ambushed by Drexel and his men, and punched by Drexel. </p><p>"The hell was that for?" Nate asked Drexel. </p><p>"Calling your bluff. Show me the notebook, or I'm closing the deal." Drexel ordered Nate. </p><p>"I'll have to go get the notebook." Nate said, leaving. </p><p>"You haven't got it, have you?" Drexel asked Nate. Nate faced Drexel. </p><p>"That's what I thought. Tell you what. If your team finds it, if, I'll tell my fella not to kill them. If they hand it over. Hell, he'll even give them a ride back down the mountain." Drexel said, clicking his tongue. </p><p>He left. Nate cracked his jaw and went back to the communications tent. Nate all but collapsed in the seat. </p><p>"This is not going well for you." Hardison realized, seeing Nate's demeanor. </p><p>"I got a--some bad news and some good news. Bad news is, Drexel knows we don't have the notebook yet." Nate explained, getting his breath. </p><p>"And the good news?" Hardison asked Nate. </p><p>"He said give them a ride." Nate said, chuckling. </p><p>
  <span class="u">1st person POV (Kaira)</span>
</p><p>Having heard the video, and making half a plan, Eliot, Parker, and I made it to the high camp, where we saw a black snowmobile. Eliot looked at the snowmobile, as I looked around us. </p><p>"Now where could he be?" Eliot asked himself. </p><p>We walked down some past the snowmobile and Eliot held up his fist. I walk forward with him, seeing yellow and blue striped rope on the tent. We both look at each other, trying to figure out where the Russian went. It then clicked when we looked back at Parker where he was. </p><p>"Parker!" Eliot yelled. </p><p>"Parker, watch out!" I yelled as the Russian burst out of the snow, me and Eliot tripped trying to run up, and the Russian cocked a gun and had it aimed at Parker's side. </p><p>We backed off, as the Russian wanted the notebook. He ordered us to drop it in Russian. </p><p>"Eliot, Kaira, no! The notebook is all we have!" Parker said. </p><p>I looked at her. Eliot opened his coat pocket and took out the notebook. He tossed it to the Russian, who let Parker go, but still had the gun trained on us. Eliot grabbed Parker and moved her towards us. The Russian lit a flare and started burning the notebook. He sat the flare in the snow along with the burning book, then got on the snowmobile and drove off.</p><p>3rd Person POV (Base camp)</p><p>At the communications tent, Drexel walked in. </p><p>"You. I have a snowmobile out there. Frequency 2 6 8, get 'em on the line right now." Drexel ordered Hardison. </p><p>"O-okay." Hardison said, pulling up the frequency. </p><p>"Dmitri, you hear me?" Drexel said, grabbing the speaker, as the snowmobile passed the signal cutoff. </p><p>"I destroyed the notebook. Nothing but ashes." Dmitri said. </p><p>"Good work. You get back here as fast as you can." Drexel said. </p><p>He hung up and left. Hardison got back on his laptop. </p><p>"Nate. Nate, we got a serious problem, man, a serious problem." Hardison said over comms. </p><p>Sometime later, Sophie was already at the tent. Nate walked in with Karen. Just then, a video came on the monitors. The video was of a confession Alan made, where he admitted that Drexel cut his rope. Drexel, of course, tried to brush it off. See, when Parker played the video for Hardison, Eliot had asked if Hardison could copy it. Hardison said that he could barely hold the comms audio and that he needed to get the video down in range of the broadcast line. And they got the opportunity when the Russian, Dmitri, ambushed the trio. Parker had put the phone in his pocket. Dimitri came in, and the Park Service arrested Dmitri. Parker, Eliot, and Kaira came in. </p><p>"This is hearsey!" Drexel yelled. </p><p>"Dying declaration. Admissible in court." Nate told Drexel, getting in each other's faces. </p><p>The Park Service arrested Drexel. Eliot took off his underhat cap. The group got closer. </p><p>"Hardison, how are you doing this?" Sophie asked Hardison. </p><p>Hardison chuckled. "I'm not. Dude just tried to email this the night he died, and it all just sat on his phone until it could connect. Alan Scott is getting back at the man who killed him." Hardison said, impressed and maybe slightly heartbroken Alan didn't survive. </p><p>The video kept going, with a message Alan made for Karen, which was his goodbye. Kaira just grabbed Eliot's hand, squeezing it hard, starting to choke up some at just how much Alan loved Karen, and how much she loved him. The beautifully ironic thing was he said in his message was for her to not look for him because he was always with her. And that's what Karen did. She came to look for him. Kaira was still holding Eliot's hand, wiping tears off her face. </p><p>"You did it. You brought him back to her." Eliot told Parker. </p><p>Kaira just held Eliot, walking out the tent, thinking of their relationship and how many close calls they've had. Hardison then walked in and saw how emotional Parker was. </p><p>"Hey." Hardison said, kind of awkward, bumping Parker's shoulder. </p><p>Parker just grabbed Hardison and pulled him into a hug, burying herself into him. Nate and Sophie watched the hacker and thief. </p><p>Later, the team was back at HQ, ready to be warm and breathing in proper oxygen. Hardison grabbed a soda from the fridge, and when he shut it, Parker was right there. "You realize, this isn't going to be normal, right?" Parker told Hardison. </p><p>"You know, my nana used to say that what's normal is whatever works for you. We all work okay." Hardison said. </p><p>"I should meet your nana." Parker said, walking away. </p><p>"Hey, you should, she-- wait what?" Hardison took a sec to process what Parker said.</p><p> Kaira and Eliot were cooking, with Eliot wearing a blue flowered apron, which surprisingly worked, at least in Kaira's eyes. Kaira was cutting veggies, and Eliot was planting as Sophie walked past. </p><p>"Hey, good job on Drexel, by the way. Never seen you use that opening before." Eliot said to Sophie. </p><p>"The trick is to gauge whether he's the type of guy to forget his conquests. You know, it's all in that split second when they can't quite remember. They clench their jaw, they stammer, they wave their arms around. It's a dead giveaway." Sophie explained Eliot and I brought out some food to the table. </p><p>"I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks Soph." Kaira said, smiling at Sophie. </p><p>Nate came down the stairs. </p><p>"So I see we're all eating together again, uh, at my table, in my home." Nate said, seeing us all at the table. </p><p>"Nate." Sophie said. </p><p>"No, no, good." Nate muttered. </p><p>"A word." Sophie said, walking up to Nate as Eliot and Kaira finished putting the food on the table. </p><p>"Look, we're both adults, right? And it took us a long time to reach an... equilibrium, as it were." Sophie said to Nate quietly. </p><p>"That's a lot of words." Nate said. </p><p>"And it was very memorable." Sophie said, a hint of a smile on her face. </p><p>"It was. I agree. Never happened." Nate said. </p><p>"Never happened." Sophie looked back at the team, then to Nate. </p><p>"And we don't tell--" Sophie said when Nate cut her off. </p><p>"Never tell them." Nate added, in agreement to not talk about San Lorenzo. </p><p>They chuckled and Nate went to leave. </p><p>"But listen, you may as well start calling me by my real name." Sophie said to Nate, causing him to turn. </p><p>"It's a bit silly, pretending you don't know it, after that night." Sophie said, teasing Nate some. </p><p>"No, no, no, no. It's just, you know if I do that, they're gonna, I mean, they're gonna know that somethings, you know, ch-ch-- changed. They'll figure it out." Nate pointed out. </p><p>"Yeah, maybe." Sophie smiled a bit. </p><p>"You know, definitely, definitely. Yeah, just, uh, no. I--I'll call you Sophie, okay? That's safest." Nate said. </p><p>"Uh-huh." Sophie hummed. </p><p>"Really." Nate whispered. </p><p>"Right, so if I were to ask you--" Sophie said when Hardison interrupted. He had climbed up on a chair after getting a signal from something on the light fixure. </p><p>"Better call the exterminator." Hardison said, pulling the microphone bug out of the light. "Cause you got bugs." Hardison said. </p><p>Nate and Sophie walked over. </p><p>"I thought you swept the place?" Sophie told Hardison, sitting down. </p><p>"I did. It's a passive burst transmitter. It's the kind I use. Whoever this is, they got  game." Hardison said as Nate sat down, passing the bug to Sophie. </p><p>"You'll have to sweep the whole place again." Nate said. </p><p>"I'm not it." Hardison said. </p><p>"Somebody's taking a run at us." Nate realized. </p><p>"Sterling." Eliot pointed out. </p><p>"Could be Stark." Sophie suggested, passing the bug to Parker. </p><p>"Or maybe Damien Moreau had friends." Parker pointed out. </p><p>"Yeah, or my father, or the Irish mob, or anyone of, what, 50 odd millionaires that we've tricked, imprisoned, or generally ticked off." Nate pointed out. Kaira grabbed the bug and looked at it. </p><p>"Nathan's got a point. We've pulled off some big jobs over the years." Karia pointed out. </p><p class="">"That puts us at the top of everybody's list." Eliot added. </p><p class="">"And when you're that high up..." Parker said. </p><p class="">"It's a long way down." Nate said. </p><p class="">Nate sat the bug down on the table. Everyone starting drinking and eating, knowing they had a new threat to face in the morning.  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this! This season has so many amazing stories, and I am so excited to show you what I have in mind for those! Now, for the chapterly Leverage edit!</p><p>https://youtu.be/0O--lf363f8</p><p>This is a fun edit, which is why I chose it!</p><p>I really hoped you liked this chapter! Suggest song ideas for edits, and I'll see if I can find any! I'm really looking forward to this season, as I absolutely love some of the formattings of the episodes, so I can't wait to write those stories! Remember to vote and share this story! Much love to you all! </p><p>Kaylee</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Now that the massive upload is finished, I will update this roughly every other week, pending any work or school problems. I hope you like this series! Also, feel free to comment if you find any errors or have trouble understanding something, and I will fix it. I will be writing each chapter based on every episode of Leverage, minus one or two to fit continuity. Maybe. I will also be writing an epilogue as the story ends and will be making another book for the reboot. Stay tuned!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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